Before the redemption
by Talespinner69
Summary: A short prelude to 'Guess who's back' that goes into detail how certain things end up happening. To be safe, this story is rated M due to powerful fight scenes, a few character deaths, and having more serious story elements than what I usually write.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any properties in this work that I did not make myself.

Before the redemption

Chapter one: Kumo chaos

It's been roughly one-and-a-half years since the Fourth Great Ninja War ended, and the ninja world as a whole seemed to have either fully recovered, or is well on the mend. A degree of peace has settled across the various lands; yes, it seemed that all was well. Especially in the village of Konohagakure, the resident ninja village of the Land of Fire, one of the five great lands of the ninja world.

Konoha had been enjoying a particular degree of prosperity ever since a new tool, called the Pod Shield, had been developed over a decade before hand. (1) Thanks to that miraculous tool, many Konoha shinobi who otherwise would have died are alive to this day. The Pod Shield had a significant hand in Konoha's efforts in the Fourth Great Ninja War, as well as the Konoha Crush and Pain's Attack. (2)

A number of Konoha's younger and more note-worthy shinobi were hanging out at a training ground, shooting the breeze and bringing up stories of the past. There were eleven Konoha shinobi total; Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka, Kiba Inuzuka plus his ninja dog Akamaru, Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuga, Neji Hyuga, Rock Lee and Tenten. All eleven of those Konoha shinobi are chunnin, aside from Neji who is a jonin.

"…When those giant wooden spikes were fired at Lady Hinata, who jumped in front of Naruto to shield him, I quickly took out my Pod Shield, activated it, and leapt in to intercept the assault," Neji Hyuga said to his friends as he was recounting a tale of his experiences from the Fourth Great Ninja War. Reaching into a pocket on his robes, Neji took out a Pod Shield, which was in its dormant state, and showed it to his friends.

"If it hadn't been for this," Neji continued as he slid the dormant Pod Shield back into the robe pocket it was removed from, "I would've had to use my body as a shield." Whistling, the cadet branch Hyuga said, "Hoo boy, I don't think I'd have been able to walk _that_ off, let me tell you."

"Mmm, yeah," Kiba remarked in a neutral tone as Akamaru sniffed about at the air, "That sounds like it would be a real pain in the ass." Only Kiba's teammates on Team Kurenai, Shino and Hinata, noticed that there was some sort of underlying feeling behind their teammate's remark about the cadet Hyuga's story. They decided not to bring it up, however.

Naruto, chuckling in a good-humor tone, held his left hand to his forehead, right against the metal plate on his ninja headband as the fingers on Naruto's left hand brushed against some of Naruto's spiky yellow-blonde hair; Naruto's hair had grown longer than what the blonde chunnin had been known to sport, and he'd considered getting a trim at some point. Just not right now.

"Well I, for one, am glad that you lived," Naruto said to the lone jonin of the group, "It'd be kind of hard to thank you for the save if you were dead." With another chuckle, Naruto added, "It was also kind of funny how, after your shield blocked the giant wooden spikes, you peeked out from behind your shield, faced the enemy, flipped them the middle finger with your left hand and shouted 'screw you'."

"I am also thankful that you saved me, Neji-niisan," Hinata remarked to her older cousin, then added in a mildly confused and embarrassed tone, "Although was it _really_ necessary for you to make a rude gesture and shout mild profanity?"

"I was in a…less than good mood at that moment, Lady Hinata," Neji replied, "A person's judgment tends to be affected by that person's emotional state at the time."

"But hey, we're all here, and that's what counts!" Tenten stated with a smile, pumping her right fist into the air.

"Agreed!" Rock Lee said, striking his and Might Gai's trademarked nice-guy pose, "The post-war victory party we all had was all the more enjoyable because we were all around to take part in it! In fact, that party was the most fun party I would ever go to until the one we threw to celebrate Naruto-kun's promotion to chunnin!"

"That's something I've been wanting to hear about," Shikamaru remarked. Turning to face Naruto, Shikamaru continued, "What was it like when you took the first chunnin exams after the Fourth Great Ninja War ended? How'd you feel when you were finally promoted?"

"Well, about that," Naruto replied, "Who here remembers the match I had against that Suna genin in the finals? You know, the one who didn't know that Konoha chunnin exams don't forbid the use of explosive tags unlike Suna chunnin exams." After most of his friends nodded in understanding, the blonde chunnin said, "Well, right when the match started, I threw-"

Naruto was cut off when a number of Konoha shinobi ran past where Naruto and his friends were hanging out, shouting something about a dark-skinned shinobi having passed out and fallen over onto the ground at the front entry gate of the village. "…The hell was that all about?" Tenten said as she walked over and looked down the road where the Konoha shinobi ran down.

"Let's go check it out," Shino suggested, following the other Konoha shinobi before any of Shino's friends could object.

"And you all think that _I_ don't act before I think," Kiba remarked as he and the others all ran after Shino. After catching up with Shino and reaching the front entry gate of the village, the Konoha Eleven (3) saw the various Konoha shinobi standing around the dark-skinned shinobi in question as she was loaded onto a stretcher, presumably to be taken to Konoha General. However, not only did most of the Konoha Eleven recognize who the dark-skinned shinobi was, but they were all alarmed, for various reasons, to see her here in Konoha, Choji especially.

"KARUI!" Choji exclaimed as he ran forward to where Karui was being loaded onto the stretcher. Before Choji could get to Karui's side, one of the random Konoha shinobi on the scene held a hand up, signaling Choji to halt.

"This girl has collapsed from exhaustion and will be taken to Konoha General," the Konoha shinobi said, "As she is a kunoichi from a village that is currently being hostile to various other villages, Konoha included, she will be kept under strict supervision."

"Are you kidding me?!" Choji snapped as his temper was starting to grow short, "Karui would never do anything to Konoha!"

"Choji's got a point," Shikamaru remarked as he came up and stood next to Choji, "Despite how the rest of her village has been acting ever since the Fourth Great Ninja War ended, Karui won't be causing anyone any trouble."

"Be that as it may, Konoha cannot afford to take any risks," the random Konoha shinobi replied, then turned around to watch his fellows pick up the stretcher Karui was placed on. After the Konoha shinobi took Karui away, Choji and Shikamaru turned around to face the others.

"That fellow had a point about Konoha not being able to afford taking any sort of risk on any Kumo shinobi," Neji pointed out, "Even _if_ the particular Kumo shinobi in question could be considered a personal friend of Konoha. You guys _have_ heard of how Kumogakure has been acting ever since the Fourth Great Ninja War ended, have you?"

"What really bothers me is why Killer Bee seems to be sitting this one out," Naruto said, holding a hand to his chin as he wore a look of deep thought on his face, "I mean, he did bring up how most of his home village has been acting back when he, Gyuki, Kurama and I helped Gaara and Shukaku (4) over at the Tailed Beast Temple, which was a few months after my promotion to chunnin." Lowering his hand to his side, Naruto continued, "But he only mentioned it in passing at most, and didn't feel comfortable going into more detail when Gaara pushed."

"…Maybe Karui would be less opposed to filling in some blanks for us?" Shikamaru suggested, "The rest of the ninja world is concerned about the lack of news coming out of Kumo over the last eight months or so. The last four weeks or so have seen Kumo be especially tight-lipped."

"She was loaded onto a stretcher and taken to the hospital," Choji pointed out to his best friend in a concerned tone, "I wouldn't feel comfortable if Karui being asked a bunch of questions was the first thing that happens after she wakes up."

A bit of a knowing smile on his face, Shikamaru replied as he truned to face his best friend, "Which is why _you_ ' _re_ going to be the one who will be asking the questions, Choji."

"What?!" Choji exclaimed, taking a step back as he wore a look of shock on his face.

Sighing, Shikamaru explained in an understanding tone, "Look, Choji. I know how concerned you are about your girlfriend. In fact, I'm willing to admit that you show more concern for Karui than Temari has shown for me. But the fact remains that Karui is from Kumogakure, who has been acting up in varying degrees ever since the Fourth Great Ninja War ended. We cannot afford to pass up an opportunity to potentially learn more about Kumo's intentions."

"But why is Choji going to be asking Karui the questions?" Ino asked, "I mean, wouldn't someone from Intelligence be a better candidate for the job?"

"Like your father, Ino-chan?" Rock Lee suggested.

"…I mean someone _other_ than my dad," Ino replied, a mildly annoyed look on her face. (5)

"I'm banking on the fact that Karui will be more comfortable talking to a familiar face," Shikamaru explained, "Also, you'd be surprised how easy a person Choji is to talk to, not to mention how much insight the big guy has. In fact, my first date with Temari went flawlessly thanks to me asking Choji for advice before hand."

Turning to face Choji, Shikamaru said, "Someone else will have to be in the room at the time of the questioning in order to take notes, but we can just pull a curtain over to give you and Karui space. Think you can do it, Choji?" After a few seconds, the Akimichi chunnin nodded in the affirmative, albeit with some hesitance.

Clapping his hands together, Shikamaru said, "Well alright! I'll look into setting things up right away." Turning to face the others, Shikamaru added, "In the meanwhile, you all will have to keep quiet about the fact that Karui is here in Konoha, and before you say anything Sakura, one of the first people who will be informed about Karui's appearance here in Konoha is Lady Tsunade." Shikamaru said that last bit when he noticed Sakura raising a hand, seemingly to object to something. Shikamaru's guess must have hit the nail right on the head, as Sakura promptly lowered the hand that she raised.

* * *

Later over at Konoha General, Karui slowly came to. When she did, the first thing she noticed was that she was laying on a bed in a hospital room. The second thing that Karui noticed was that her boyfriend, Choji, was sitting in a chair against the right-hand wall, a few feet from the side of the foot end of Karui's hospital bed.

"Choji!" Karui said as loudly as she could, which wasn't all that loud given how exhausted the Kumo kunoichi was. Choji could tell full well that the tone Karui is using was one of panic and alarm. The Kumo kunoichi tried to get up, but Choji got up from his chair, walked over, and gently laid his left hand against her right shoulder, getting Karui to stop.

"You've just woken up after having passed out and fallen over, so you should be taking it easy," Choji advised. When Karui laid back down, Choji asked, "Karui, I know you've just got to Konoha, and that you've just woken up in the hospital. But a lot of the higher ups here want to know about the funny business going down over in your village."

"You mean my _old_ village, sweetie," Karui replied, using a noticeable amount of bitterness when she said 'old', but using a kind, gentle and sweet tone for evert other word she said. This did not go unnoticed by the Akimichi chunnin, who proceeded to press onward for more details.

"Old village?" Choji asked in a mildly alarmed tone, "What do you mean by that?"

Looking away from her Konoha boyfriend, Karui muttered, "I abandoned Kumo."

"W-what?!" Choji said, "Karui, you…why would you abandon your village?"

"It wasn't just me, either," Karui said as she shook her head gently, "Omoi, Darui, Samui, Atsui and C all abandoned Kumo with me. We all saw the signs for what they were, so we couldn't stay in Kumo. We just couldn't."

"All of your friends from Kumo fled with you?" Choji asked, his tone growing more and more shocked. Shaking his head, Choji asked, "Why would you all abandon Lord Fourth Raikage? Abandon his brother?"

Looking her boyfriend right in the face, Karui's eyes watered up. "They wouldn't hold it against us," Karui said in a voice that was getting steadily more broken. Wiping tears from her eyes, Karui continued, "If they were both still alive, they would say that my friends and I all made the right choice." Suddenly, the curtains that separated Karui's hospital bed from the one on her left were suddenly pulled aside; an alarmed-looking Shikamaru stood there, his right hand pushing the curtains away and his left hand holding a small pad of paper and a pen.

"The fourth Raikage and his brother are both dead?!" Shikamaru exclaimed, clearly alarmed.

"EEEEEEEEEEE!" Karui shrieked in fright, freaked by Shikamaru suddenly revealing that he was present.

"Shikamaru!" Choji exclaimed, a disappointed and mildly angry look on his face.

"I'm sorry, Choji, but what Karui just revealed overrides any need to try and do things the gentle way," Shikamaru replied. Turning to face Karui, Shikamaru said, "Can you elaborate about the Fourth Raikage and his brother both being dead?"

"…" Karui looked down, a sad look on her face, "…A few weeks ago, Omoi was stating concerns about not hearing from Lord Fourth or Master Bee in a while. At first, Samui, Atsui, C and I were going to dismiss it as a standard Omoi-style worrywart tangent. But Darui pointed out that it's been over two weeks since he had heard from Lord Fourth and Master Bee as well." Shaking her head, Karui continued, "Darui, C and Samui decided to investigate. That's when they found out about what that new counsel that's started to rise in power and popularity in Kumo had been up to."

"Yeah, I heard about that counsel," Shikamaru remarked in a mildly grim tone, "They're saying that Kumogakure can regain its lost glory under their leadership." Shaking his head, Shikamaru added, "I've heard from Lady Tsunade that the Fourth Raikage considers them a real pain in the rear to deal with, and that he won't even consider anything that counsel recommends."

Tearing up a bit more, Karui continued in a broken tone, "I guess that explains why Darui learned that both Lord Fourth and Master Bee were poisoned in their sleep." Chuckling ironically, Karui added, "That also explains why Lord Fourth hasn't been trying to get that counsel to pipe down the past few weeks."

Holding a hand to his chin, Shikamaru said, "This is bad. The Fourth Raikage was the only reasonable authority figure in Kumogakure, not to mention the only person keeping that counsel in check, and the Fourth Raikage's brother Killer Bee was a very powerful shinobi in his own right. But now they're both dead." Looking to Karui, Shikamaru continued, "Where are the others? You know, Omoi, Darui, C, Samui and Atsui."

Her face scrunching up more in sadness, Karui said tearfully, "On the night we all fled Kumo, my friends and I were all chased by Kumo ninja who sided with the counsel. We made it through most of the Land of Hot Water, and were about a mile from the border with the Land of Fire, when…when…" (6) Tearing up some more, Karui cried softly for a few seconds before continuing, "I…I was the only one who wasn't killed in the attempt to flee," Karui managed to get out before giving in to her crying.

Shikamaru and Choji both went as wide-eyed as they could manage; Choji was especially shocked, slowly shaking his head while muttering, "No way…"

"You and your friends were all trying to reach Konoha?" Shikamaru asked.

Nodding slowly, Karui said, "Samui had a degree of respect for your Fifth Hokage which she returned, Omoi got along well with most of the guys you and Choji are friends with, and I was banking on Choji offering me somewhere to stay." Shaking her head, Karui said, "My friends and I all thought that if any place would protect us from what Kumo has become under the rule of that counsel, it'd be Konoha."

"So, you and your friends were hoping that Konoha would grant you all political asylum," Shikamaru stated. After Karui slowly nodded in the affirmative, the Nara chunnin said, "There's something else about all of this that I'm concerned about."

"What would that be?" Karui said before turning to her right to reach for the box of tissue paper on her bedside table; Choji walked over to the bedside table quickly and got the tissue paper box for her.

"Wasn't Killer Bee the Jinchuriki for eight-tails?" Shikamaru asked, "Was eight-tails extracted first, or did those counsel bastards went right ahead with poisoning Killer Bee in his sleep?"

"…Yes," Karui remarked after blowing her nose on a tissue, "Master Bee was the Jinchuriki for eight-tails, but I know that there was no extraction prior to Master Bee being poisoned in his sleep." Taking another tissue and blowing her nose on it, Karui added, "Due to how big an event it is to extract a tailed beast from its host, all of Kumogakure would have been aware if eight-tails was extracted from Master Bee, especially considering that eight-tails would have defiantly gone on a rampage the moment he was out." Looking up at Shikamaru, Karui said, "Something like that would be pretty damn hard to keep out of the news, don't you think?"

"What happens to a tailed-beast if their host dies while sealed inside them?" Shikamaru asked.

"Tailed-beasts cannot truly die," Karui stated, "So if their host dies while they're sealed inside of them, they'll just reincarnate at some point. I don't know how long it will take though; many theorists on the subject put the time period of reincarnation for a tailed beast at roughly twenty years at a minimum." (7)

Sighing, Shikamaru said, "Due to the circumstances, this all is going to have to be run by Lady Tsunade. She'll have to make a decision on what's to be done."

"What do you mean, Shikamaru?" Choji asked, a mildly angry look spreading across his face, "Of course we should let Karui stay here in Konoha!"

"I'm afraid that it's not that simple, Choji," Shikamaru explained, "Karui is seeking political asylum from Kumogakure. Deciding whether or not letting Karui stay in Konoha is up to Lady Tsunade."

His shoulders sagging in defeat, Choji said, "I guess you're right, Shikamaru. We'll just have to hope that Lady Tsunade gives Karui the okay to stay."

"I'm not sure if she will, though," Shikamaru replied, "Due to how Kumogakure has been acting as of late due to that counsel that's running the place now, Lady Tsunade may decide to give Karui the boot just to avoid armed conflict between Kumo and Konoha. She's got the whole of Konoha to think about, Choji."

Looking down at his feet, Choji muttered as tears pattered against his toes, "Damn it. I can't believe this is happening. This just can't be happening."

"Choji," Karui said softly, getting the Akimichi chunnin's attention. With her boyfriend looking at her, Karui said, "Konoha's Fifth Hokage is a good person. I'm sure she'll argue in favor of letting me stay."

"I…I hope you're right, Karui," Choji replied as he began to choke up slightly.

* * *

Lady Tsunade, the fifth and current Hokage, along with her advisors Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, had called a meeting of the heads of Konoha's most prominent clans. They all gathered in a room with a single large circular table placed in front of a single long, rectangle-shaped table; Tsunade, with Homura on her left and Koharu on her right, sat facing outward so that they would be able to see the large circular table. Shizune, Tsunade's assistant, stood behind her mistress, holding an armful of folders.

The clan heads weren't in the room yet, having not shown up yet. But Tsunade could hear talking outside of the door that led into the room; it was the kind of talking that came with meeting someone at the door and not expecting them to be there.

The door was opened, and the clan heads walked in; Hiashi Hyuga of the Hyuga clan was the first to enter, followed by Shibi Aburame of the Aburame clan. After him was Tsume Inuzuka of the Inuzuka clan plus Tsume's talking ninja dog Kuromaru, Shikaku Nara of the Nara clan, Choza Akimichi of the Akimichi clan, and Inoichi Yamanaka of the Yamanaka clan. Harold Fisher, a pink-haired jonin rank Konoha ninja, followed Inoichi into the meeting room.

"Seriously, Harold," Shikaku said in an annoyed tone to the Fisher patriarch, "Why the hell did you come?"

"As a clan head who's been called in for a meeting between the Hokage and the heads of Konoha's clans, I'm allowed to bring someone to serve as my advisor," Inoichi said as he answered the question in Harold's place, "I chose to bring Harold as mine."

"Isn't that the same excuse Tsume uses to bring her dog?" Shibi asked, "I mean, there shouldn't be any need to do that, given that Kuromaru is Tsume's Ninkin."

"That crazy old bat who advises Lady Fifth has a beef with dogs for some reason," Tsume said, "So I say that Kuromaru is my advisor to shut her the frig up."

"It helps that I'm actually smarter than Tsume," Kuromaru remarked.

"Well that doesn't surprise me," Shikaku reasoned.

"Oh, now you're just being mean, Shikaku," Choza said in a tone of mild admonishment, "Give the woman a break."

"Ah, I see that the clan heads are all here and accounted for," Tsunade said aloud, getting the attention of the clan heads. As all of them sat around the table, with Kuromaru sitting on the floor next to Tsume's chair and Harold leaning against the wall behind Inoichi, Tsunade said, "Now then, I suppose you all are wondering why my advisors and I all called you in."

"I believe this has something to do with the fact that a shinobi from Kumo was found collapsed on the ground a few feet inside of Konoha from the front entry gate?" Hiashi said as he raised a hand.

Nodding in the affirmative, Lady Tsunade said, "Shizune." Understanding the cue, Shizune walked over to the table where the clan heads sat and proceeded to hand each clan head a folder containing some information. The clan heads, after opening and reading the information contained within, all gasped in shock.

"The Kumo shinobi in question, Karui, is currently recovering in Konoha General," Tsunade stated, "Due to Kumogakure's behavior post-Fourth Great Ninja War, Karui normally would have been sent out of Konoha and the Land of Fire as a whole after her recovery was complete. However, Karui has made a request for political asylum."

"If this is how her old village dealt with people who see sense, then I don't blame the girl," Tsume remarked as she gave her copy of the file a slight smack with the back of her hand. Kuromaru was of a likewise opinion when Tsume showed him her copy of the info.

"Yeah," Inoichi said as he read his copy, "This is some pretty screwed-up stuff." Turning around, Inoichi gestured for Harold to come over as he said, "Harold, dude, you gotta see this." Walking over, Harold gave Inoichi's copy of the file a quick scan, his eyes growing wider out of shock with each bit that the Fisher patriarch read.

"…Damn…" Harold said, too shocked to say anything else.

"So then," Tsunade said as Harold walked back over to where he stood, "As the heads of Konoha's most prominent clans, you all will vote on if Konoha should grant Karui her request for political asylum or not. Keep in mind that your votes will represent your respective clans as a whole."

"We shall begin with the heads of Konoha's noble clans," Koharu said in a business-like tone, "How do the Hyuga, Aburame and Akimichi clans vote?"

"The Hyuga clan votes against granting the Kumo kunoichi her request for political asylum," Hiashi stated.

"The Aburame clan votes against granting the Kumo kunoichi her request for political asylum," Shibi declared.

"The Akimichi clan votes in favor of granting the Kumo kunoichi her request for political asylum," Choza said in a firm tone. Hiashi and Shibi both regarded Choza with looks of confusion and mild annoyance, but otherwise did nothing. Homura and Koharu, on the other hand, decided to speak up.

"Are you sure about that, Choza?" Koharu said in a questioning tone, "Kumogakure has been up to some rather notable misbehavior as of late. For all we know, this could be some ploy by Kumo to set a spy in Konoha."

"I agree," Homura said, "This could be putting Konoha youth in danger." Hiashi could be seen nodding in agreement with what Homura said. (8)

Giving the two older advisors a serious look, Choza said, "Judging the girl by what village she comes from, rather than by her own individual merits, is not doing her justice. I stand by my decision."

Sighing in a resigned tone, Koharu said, "Very well. Now how do the other clans vote on the matter?"

"The Inuzuka clan votes in favor of granting the Kumo kunoichi her request for political asylum," Tsume said, drawing an approving nod from Kuromaru.

"The Yamanaka clan votes in favor of granting the Kumo kunoichi her request for political asylum," Inoichi stated, drawing an approving nod from Harold.

"The Nara clan votes against granting the Kumo kunoichi her request for political asylum," Shikaku declared, drawing various reactions out of the other clan heads; claps of approval from Hiashi and Shibi, a groan of complaint from Tsume who was worried about a potential tie, and varying degrees of disappointment from Choza and Inoichi.

"Well now this is just perfect," Koharu complained, "With a three-to-three tie, one clan head is going to have to change his or her mind so that a decision can be reached on the matter of the Kumo kunoichi."

"Now hang on," Tsunade began as she opened a book on Konoha law, "There's actually a rule in here concerning situations such as this." Looking up from the book to the clan heads, Tsunade said, "In the case of a tie in voting, if any clan head brought an advisor, that advisor is allowed a vote. Both Tsume and Inoichi have an advisor each, so those advisors are allowed to vote."

"You're seriously going to let a dog cast a vote on the matter of granting political asylum?!" Koharu snapped in a shrill tone.

"Well screw you too," Kuromaru replied in a casual tone.

"So then," Tsunade said, "How do the advisors to the Inuzuka and Yamanaka clans vote?"

"I vote in favor of granting the Kumo kunoichi her request for political asylum," Kuromaru said.

"I also vote in favor of granting the Kumo kunoichi her request for political asylum," Harold declared.

With a smile of mild amusement, Tsunade said, "Very well. By a vote of five to three, Konoha shall grant the Kumo kunoichi her request for political asylum."

As everything had adjourned, the clan heads all got up and left, with Kuromaru and Harold following Tsume and Inoichi out. When everyone was outside of the meeting room, Harold pointed to Hiashi, Shibi and Shikaku and said, "Dick move, bros."

* * *

Later in the village proper, Shikamaru and Ino, along with Ino's boyfriend Sai, were walking along the street next to the Akimichi clan compound. "That…is quite a lot to take in," Sai remarked as Shikamaru finished filling him in on what happened. (9)

"My dad told me that Lady Tsunade called a meeting of all of the clan leaders in Konoha to vote on if Karui should be granted political asylum in Konoha or not," Shikamaru said, then added in a slightly disgusted tone, "My dad said that he voted against granting the request."

"Well that's not nice," Sai remarked.

Nodding in agreement with what the artistic ninja said, Shikamaru continued, "My dad went on to say that the voting reached a stalemate that was broken when Tsunade pointed out a rule that allowed the advisors brought by Ino's dad and Kiba's mom to vote. Thankfully, this ended up in favor of letting Karui stay in Konoha."

"Well that's a relief," Sai said as he gave a sigh of relief.

As the three of them walked, Shikamaru and company noticed Karui outside of the Akimichi clan compound, helping Choji's mother carrying some groceries (okay, a _lot_ of groceries). "Oi! Karui!" Ino called out, getting the Kumo kunoichi's attention.

When she spotted Ino waiving at her, Karui called out, "Hey Ino! Guys!"

Shikamaru and Sai followed Ino across the street as she ran over to greet Karui and Choji's mother. "So, you're helping Choji's mom with groceries?" Ino said.

"Well Choji's clan is letting me stay with them while I'm here in Konoha," Karui replied, "The least I can do is help them with thing such as carrying home groceries and various other chores."

"She's such a sweet young lady," Choji's mother remarked, "I seriously cannot believe that anyone would vote to give her the boot when she's down on her luck and needs a place to stay."

"This seems like quite a lot of groceries, though," Shikamaru remarked as he pointed to the grocery bags that Choji's mother and Karui were carrying.

"This isn't all we got today," Choji's mother replied with a slight hint of amusement in her tone, "I managed to get Inoichi and Harold to help carry the rest."

At that moment, Inoichi and Harold turned the corner, chatting like the good friends they are. "So, like I was saying, my good man," Inoichi said to Harold, "Hiashi has got to pull the stick out of his-" Inoichi stopped short upon seeing that Sai was standing there with Ino and Shikamaru. Without ever taking his eyes off of Sai, Inoichi sat the grocery bags he was carrying down on the ground, pulled a small scroll out of his ninja weapons pouch, unrolled it, and slapped his right hand onto the pattern on the inside, causing a white cloud of smoke to 'bamph' out; as the smoke cleared, Harold sat down the bags he was carrying.

"Inoichi, what are you doing?" Choji's mother asked, but she stopped short when she saw what was sealed inside of Inoichi's scroll; two aluminum baseball bats. Inoichi picked up both bats, handing the left-hand bat over to Harold.

"…YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Inoichi exclaimed as he ran at Sai, with Harold following as his best friend's back-up. Seeing two grown men chasing him with baseball bats, Sai did the only sensible thing in that situation; he ran away screaming.

"DAD! MR. FISHER!" Ino screamed angrily, "LEAVE SAI ALONE!"

END, BEFORE THE REDEMPTION CHAPTER ONE

Author's Notes:

(1) Or was it?

(2) Although in the latter, everyone who was killed was resurrected, making the whole thing moot.

(3) It's the name of the group consisting of Naruto, Sakura, Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, Shino, Kiba, Hinata, Neji, Tenten and Rock Lee.

(4) Shukaku, the one-tail, was at his request resealed into Gaara when the Fourth Great Ninja War ended (in this timeline). Shukaku claimed it was because he somewhat missed Gaara, but Naruto firmly believes it has something to do with the apparent rivalry between Shukaku and Kurama.

(5) You don't wanna know what Inoichi did the _last_ time he was involved in questioning someone. All I will say is that it involved a twelve-pack of Pape Konoha's Brand Lager, a dog leash someone got for Tsume so she could take Kuromaru for walks (Tsume doesn't believe in leashes), and some Tupperware that Harold was supposed to return to his sister but completely forgot to.

(6) Due to the Land of Lightning's location, if one were to flee from Kumogakure to Konohagakure on foot, then they'd be crossing through the Land of Hot Water (as the pursuers may know some serious long-range jitsus, taking a boat would make Karui and her friends sitting ducks).

(7) I'm not sure if this is the actual length of time it takes; it's just a guess.

(8) You should know why.

(9) Unlike with 'Guess who's back?', Sai will actually get more than ONE line of dialogue. Likewise, Temari and Karui will both get more lines as well.

A few things. First, I would like to apologize for my lack of activity as of late; real life got in the way. Second, this story will be my shortest work (that is not a one shot) yet; it will only be ten chapters in length, all of which are already written. They will be following shortly. Third, I'm giving this story an 'M' rating just to be on the safe side; some of the upcoming chapters will not only have some rather brutal fight scenes (looking at you, Kiba), but those chapters will also contain some of what I believe to be my darkest and heaviest writing yet.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any properties in this work that I did not make myself.

Before the redemption

Chapter two: The Chunnin Tournament part one- The dog, wild

Naruto Uzumaki, a chunnin-rank ninja of the village of Konohagakure, was walking over to the Hokage office building one day. Very recently, a kunoichi from Kumogakure, Karui, had come to Konoha seeking political asylum due to what has been going down in Kumo as of late. Karui's request was granted, but only after a three-to-three tie of voting among the various clan heads of Konoha's ninja clans was broken because the Inuzuka and Yamanaka clans, who were in favor of Karui's request, were allowed to invoke a rule that allowed advisors they brought to vote on the matter as well.

According to Naruto's friend Sakura Haruno, Lady Tsunade, the fifth (and current) Hokage, said that this had put a real bee in the bonnet of her advisor Koharu when this meant that Tsume Inuzuka's Ninkin Kuromaru was allowed to vote.

But this is getting off subject. The reason why Naruto was walking over to the Hokage office building was because he, along with all of his friends that were at the chunnin-rank, had received summons from Tsunade to appear; the message didn't go into much detail after that, but it did say that it would be wise for one to brush up on one's skills as a ninja.

Eventually, Naruto reached the Hokage office building. A secretary working a front desk on the ground floor directed him to a large meeting room. When Naruto got to that room, he noticed a few things; one, Tsunade was there with her assistant Shizune and the aforementioned Sakura. Two, there weren't any tables or chairs or anything else; the room was completely empty. Three, unless you counted Sakura, who would have most likely accompanied Tsunade here along with Shizune, Naruto was the first among his friends that were still chunnin to show up here.

"…I'm assuming that you want to wait until everyone else shows up first before you go into why you called us all here?" Naruto said in a casual tone to Tsunade.

Nodding in the affirmative, Tsunade replied, "You shouldn't have to wait long. If you'll recall, the summons I sent stated that showing up as close to the dot as possible would be in all of y'all's best interest. Although I wasn't expecting you to be the first to show, Naruto."

Pointing to Sakura, Naruto asked, "What about her?"

"Sakura came here with Lady Tsunade and I, so it wouldn't really be fair to count her as having beaten you here," Shizune explained, drawing a mild nod of agreement from the pink-haired medic ninja.

True to what Tsunade had said, it wasn't long before Naruto's friends and fellow chunnin all started filing in; Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka, Kiba Inuzuka plus his Ninkin Akamaru, Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuga, Tenten and Rock Lee all showed up within the next few minutes. Neji Hyuga, the teammate of Tenten and Rock Lee and older cousin of Hinata, had also shown up as well, which struck Naruto as odd; Tsunade had only called for the chunnin among Naruto and his friends, yet Neji is a jonin.

Tsunade seemed confused by this as well, but before she could say anything, Neji handed her a letter. Taking the letter, Tsunade opened it and read what it said. "…Oh, well that makes sense," Tsunade replied in a casual tone that understood the intent of the situation. Pointing to Neji, the Fifth Hokage asked, "Wouldn't it make more sense for that Ko fellow in your clan to do this job rather than you, though?"

"Ko is on probation, so Lord Hiashi gave me Ko's job to do in the meanwhile," Neji explained.

An eyebrow arching in confusion, Tsunade asked, "What the hell did he do?"

"Ko pulled a stunt that, according to Lord Hiashi, would be more at home on the respective track records of Mr. Fisher, Mr. Yamanaka and Mrs. Inuzuka," Neji replied. His expression taking on a somewhat confused hint, the Hyuga prodigy added, "I didn't get anything else, though." (1) Both Sakura and Ino moaned in mild embarrassment; Kiba let out a quiet chuckle.

"Well we can discuss stuff like that later," Tsunade said to the gathered shinobi as a whole. After Tsunade had gestured for Sakura to join the other chunnin, Tsunade said, "Now then, kiddies. I suppose that some of you are wondering why I called you all here."

"Are we all in trouble or something?" Shikamaru asked, making some of the other chunnin look mildly uncomfortable; Hinata even let out a small 'eep' of mild fright.

"No, no," Tsunade replied with a slight chuckle, "There's no trouble at all." Tsunade looked like she was going to begin to explain something, but she stopped before even starting. With a mildly confused look on her face, Tsunade said, "Hey Neji, can you do me a solid and, like, stand off to the side somewhat? I need to address the chunnin only." Nodding in understanding, Neji walked over to the right-hand wall (if you're facing Tsunade) and leaned against it.

"That's better," Tsunade remarked as she watched Neji prop himself against the wall. Turning her head back to face the chunnin, Tsunade said, "Now then. The ten of you are among Konoha's finest chunnin-ranked shinobi." Stopping short, Tsunade shook her head gently. "No, scratch that," Tsunade said in a tone of correcting herself, "The ten of you _are_ Konoha's finest chunnin-ranked shinobi."

Continuing on with her original line of thought, the Fifth Hokage said, "Do you all remember back when you all took the chunnin exams for the first time, particularly the one-on-one matches where you all fought each other and a few genin from other villages?"

After all of the chunnin collectively nodded in the affirmative, Tsunade continued, "Konoha will be hosting a combat tournament where the ten of you will be the competitors. The matches will not be unlike that of the chunnin exams."

"But…but we're all already chunnin, Lady Tsunade," Ino remarked in a mildly confused tone as she raised a hand, her expression showing how lost she was.

"Yes, yes, I know," Tsunade replied, "But that's not why you all will be competing. This tournament will be done to showcase the strength and skills of Konoha's finest to the various nobles of the Land of Fire, as well as various other potential clients. Furthermore, representatives from Suna, Iwa and Kiri will also come to watch. None from Kumo, though; given how they're acting, I wouldn't trust any of them in Konoha." With a quick glance in Choji's direction, the Lady Fifth added, "Political asylum seekers excluded."

"So, there will be representatives from Suna, eh?" Tenten asked, her right fist clenching up.

Nodding in the affirmative, Tsunade replied, "Oh yeah. Both you and Rock Lee had run-ins with Suna genin in the aforementioned chunnin exams, did you not?"

"Of course, Lady Tsunade!" Rock Lee stated, "I fought Gaara, whereas Tenten fought Gaara's older sister Temari."

"Oh, that reminds me," Tsunade said. Turning to face Naruto specifically, Tsunade continued, "Naruto, I was informed by Lord Kazekage Gaara that you can expect an apology from Temari."

A confused expression appearing across his face, Naruto said, "I can expect Temari to apologize to me? What did she do?"

"Gaara didn't say," Tsunade replied, "All he mentioned is that Temari will be handing you a handwritten apology letter, along with something that Gaara said Temari should have handed off to you a long time ago."

"I know what it is, but I don't want to spoil the surprise," Shikamaru said. Chuckling to himself, the Nara chunnin said as he rubbed his hands together, "This is going to be fun."

"Anywho, the representatives from Suna, Iwa and Kiri will be showing up sometime tomorrow," Tsunade said to the chunnin, "As well as the various Land of Fire nobles. We'll wait for all of them to show up before starting the tournament. You will all be informed about the location and time of the Chunnin Tournament sometime tomorrow morning." With a slight smile, Tsunade added, "Now go home, brush up on your skills, and get some rest. You'll be needing it!" With that, all of the gathered chunnin took their leave.

* * *

That afternoon over at the Inuzuka clan compound, Kiba walked through the front door of his family's home, with Akamaru trotting in after him. When Kiba entered, he noticed that Hana, his older sister, was sitting at the dining room table with another Inuzuka clan kunoichi; this kunoichi looked a lot like Kiba's mother Tsume, except for the fact that this kunoichi's hair is roughly fifty percent longer than Tsume's (it looks just as wild though) and a (much) lighter shade of brown. Additionally, this Inuzuka kunoichi's red facial markings looked somewhat wider than those on Tsume's face.

When Hana and the mystery woman noticed Kiba and Akamaru's presence, they both got up and approached them, stopping about two-and-a-half feet in front of them. It was then that Kiba noticed that his older sister wore a clearly upset expression on her face. "Yo Hana, sis, you okay?" Kiba asked in a concerned tone, "You look like someone died." Feeling a similar level of concern as his master, Akamaru walked up to Hana, sniffed at her left hand, then licked it a bit. This drew a small but sad smile from the Hana, who proceeded to ruffle the top of Akamaru's head a bit.

"Someone did die, dear nephew of mine," the mystery Inuzuka kunoichi remarked to Kiba, "Or rather, a number of someones died."

Turning to regard the mystery Inuzuka kunoichi, Kiba said in a mildly alarmed tone, "What are you talking about, Aunt Pirate?" (2)

"Four of our clan's Ninkin who were being kept over at our clan's kennel died," said the mystery Inuzuka kunoichi, revealed to be Kiba's aunt Pirate, "To make matters worse, one of them was a bitch who was nursing a litter she had just given birth to."

"You…you have got to be kidding me," Kiba replied, too shocked to show anything resembling an emotion, "How…how did they die?"

Scoffing in a tone suggesting that she thought Kiba should already know the answer, Pirate said, "They died from the exact same frigg'en cause of death that caused all of the deaths that happened in our clan so far this year. Starvation."

"There's also a chance that we may also lose the litter whose mother died," Hana choked out as tears rolled down the sides of her face, "There's only one or two other bitches who are nursing litters right now, and those litters are big enough as it is."

Akamaru whimpered in an upset manner, his tail tucked between his rear legs. Kiba, his emotions starting to get over the shock that held them back, had a different reaction.

"How the frig can we let any of our clan's Ninkin starve to death?!" Kiba snapped as his brow furrowed, "I know that food has always been an issue for us human members of the Inuzuka clan, but we _always_ make sure that the Ninkin are fed! Seriously! What the actual frig?!"

"We've been forced to make more cuts to the clan's budget," Pirate explained to her nephew in a grim tone, "I didn't want you or Hana to know about the fact that one of those cuts was to how much our clan spends on dog food. You especially, Kiba, given how much I know you care about our clan's Ninkin. But as I was talking about the recent Ninkin deaths with some of the other women in our clan, Hana walked in, and…well…you can probably guess the rest."

"Where's mom?" Kiba asked, "Does she know about this?"

"You and Hana's mother, along with Kuromaru, Choza, Shikaku, Inoichi and Harold all went to some drinking festival in a town somewhere in the Land of Fire," Pirate explained, "They won't be back for a bit." Chuckling to herself, Pirate remarked, "For an Inuzuka, that older twin sister of mine is rather tame. She doesn't hold anything against the people who are the reason why our clan has had to make so many cuts to our spending, why some of our clan's facilities have had their power cut, why some of our clan's members have been _dying from starvation_ as of late."

"Aunt Pirate, not this again," Hana said in a stressed, mildly upset tone.

"They've been lording over the Inuzuka clan for at least the past three generations, Hana," Pirate pointed out in a stern tone, "So long as they keep our clan under the thumb of our inescapable debt to them, our lives and the lives of every other member of our clan are essentially forfeit!"

"You're just blowing things out of proportion, Aunt Pirate," Hana said, "There's no way they'd seriously be that selfish!"

Scoffing, Pirate replied, "Hana, my niece, you disappoint me. You're sounding like Kiba before he woke up and smelled the coffee." Putting both hands on her waist, Pirate said to Hana, "When the hell are you going to wake up like your brother and realize that the Hyuga clan are a bunch of right proper frigg'en bastards?"

"Aunt Pirate's got a point, sis," Kiba said, his tone taking on a serious, mildly grim tone. Turning to face his aunt, Kiba said, "Sorry if this is getting off subject, but I don't suppose you've heard about the upcoming tournament that I'm going to be entering?"

"Ah yes, the Chunnin Tournament," Pirate remarked, "Lady Tsunade wants to show off Konoha's finest young chunnin to the various Land of Fire nobles, along with representatives from the major villages who aren't pissing on everyone's shoes at the moment." Regarding her nephew more directly, Pirate asked, "I don't suppose you have any idea who you and Akamaru will be fighting in the first round, do you?"

Shaking his head gently in the negative, Kiba replied, "I have no clue, Aunt Pirate. All I know is that me and my friends who are chunnin will be squaring off against each other. That's a total of ten chunnin."

"Which means that there will be an odd match in one of the rounds, assuming that there won't be any double knock outs," Hana said as she did a bit of counting on her fingers.

"Who are you banking on winning the whole thing, Kiba?" Pirate asked.

Smirking, Kiba pounded his right fist into his left hand. "Are you seriously asking me that, Aunt Pirate?" Kiba remarked, "Akamaru and I are going to the top!" Akamaru barked in a manner that sounded as if he agreed wholeheartedly with his owner.

"Heh," Pirate chuckled softly in an amused tone, "Forgive me if I sounded like I was selling you short, Kiba. I know you'll clean everyone's clocks." Holding a fist out to her nephew, Pirate said, "You're an Inuzuka. The strongest, the fastest, the wildest. We're the kind that can never be put down." Kiba smirked in an amused manner, and accepted the fist-bump his aunt offered.

* * *

The next day, the members of the Konoha eleven who were still chunnin had gathered at an indoor arena; it would be some time before the Chunnin Tournament started, so everyone was trying to relax. As Naruto walked up to Choji to inquire about where Shikamaru went off to, he heard Shikamaru's voice call out, "Oi, Naruto! Over here!" Turning around, Naruto saw Shikamaru approach with the representatives from Sunagakure who came to watch the Chunnin Tournament; Gaara, who is Suna's current Kazekage, along with Gaara's older siblings Kankuro and Temari.

Leaning forward slightly and turning his head to face his older sister, Gaara said in a stern tone, "Temari, I believe that you have a few things that you would like to hand over to Naruto right now." Sighing in an exasperated tone, Temari walked up to Naruto and handed him an envelope and a folded-up sheet of paper.

Naruto first decided to look at the folded-up sheet of paper, which had a list of some of Naruto's various skills and techniques. It didn't seem to have been written by Temari, though. "That is a list, written by your Hokage, of some of your various skills and techniques that, in the interest of fairness, the people organizing the Chunnin Tournament don't want you to use," Temari said in a mildly annoyed tone, sounding as if she was speaking some much-rehearsed dialogue.

Giving the eldest sand sibling a wry look, Naruto deadpanned, "Now I see why Granny Tsunade said that Gaara said you owed me an apology. It's nice to receive info like this beforehand."

"I forgot to do it the last time, alright?!" Temari exclaimed in a stressed tone of complaint.

"Enclosed in the envelope you will find an apology letter handwritten by Temari," Gaara continued, "She originally wanted to type it up on a computer and print it off, but I insisted that she write it by hand."

"Thanks for the consideration," Naruto replied. To Temari, Naruto said, "And I'll accept your apology. This is actually the first time someone ever wrote me an apology letter after wronging me, even if they were forced to write the letter."

Seeing the mild amusement in the smile Naruto gave her, Temari said, "I hope you lose in the first round, you little orange bastard."

"I stopped wearing orange jumpsuits a long time ago," Naruto replied. It was true; out of all of the Konoha eleven, Naruto's outfit was the only one which changed from what he wore in his mid-teens. Naruto wore the standard outfit of all Konoha shinobi ranked chunnin and up, although Naruto added a little extra flare in the haori he wore. The haori was just like the one worn by the late Lord Fourth Hokage, except the white was replaced with orange and there was no writing on the back.

"Well I'M hoping that you win the entire tournament," Gaara remarked to Naruto as he offered him a handshake, which was accepted.

"I myself am also banking on you winning," Kankuro said, "And that not just because I have twenty-thousand ryo on you winning."

"…You bet on me?" Naruto asked, regarding the middle sand sibling with a confused look.

"Events like these make for good gambling," Kankuro remarked, "Hell, Lady Tsunade is getting in on this action as well."

"Granny Tsunade is taking part in the betting," Naruto remarked in an unsurprised tone as he shook his head gently, "Of course, she is."

"Yeah," Kankuro continued, "Lady Fifth Hokage bet your and Gaara's kunoichi friend from Iwa fifty-thousand ryo that Sakura will win her round one match."

Naruto's attention was piqued by what Kankuro had said. "Kurotsuchi's here?" Naruto asked.

Nodding in the affirmative, Kankuro explained, "Yeah. Lord Third Tsuchikage was supposed to come, but his back suffered some serious spasms that made traveling impossible. So Kurotsuchi, her dad Kitsuchi, and some dude named Akatsuchi came instead. They're the representatives from Iwa who's come to watch the Chunnin Tournament."

"Lady Mizukage Mei Terumi, along with two random Kiri shinobi acting as her guards, are the representatives from Kirigakure," Temari stated.

"If I were you, Naruto," Gaara whispered to his closest friend in a mildly panicked tone, "Say that you already have a girlfriend if Mei asks. Mei has recently taken to acting as a matchmaker of sorts, probably out of frustration over failing to find herself a significant other." (3)

"…I'll keep that in mind," Naruto replied, "By the way, how's Shukaku doing?"

"We've been getting along splendidly," Gaara said, "As well as you and Kurama get along now. Although for reasons that escape me, whenever the subject of Baki is brought up, Shukaku tells me to kill him. It's just Baki that he wants me to kill, though."

"I can understand that," Naruto remarked, "I occasionally have similar troubles with Kurama from time to time." Thinking inwardly towards the realm of his seal, Naruto thought, " _Isn_ ' _t that right_ , _Kurama_?"

" _Kill Tenten_ ," Kurama replied from within the realm of the seal.

" _For the last time_ , _no_!" Naruto thought at Kurama. Outwardly, Naruto said to the sand siblings, "I'm glad to see that you all are doing well. And thanks again for the apology letter, Temari."

As Temari gave an annoyed sounding 'Hmph', Gaara looked to Naruto after giving his older sister a quick scowl. "Kankuro, Temari and I should get going to the viewing box that been prepared for us ahead of time," Gaara said, "Good luck."

* * *

After a few minutes, Tsunade showed up with Shizune. Accompanying the Hokage and her assistant were the two jonin instructors to the Konoha eleven that were still around; Kurenai Yuhi, the sensei to Kiba, Shino and Hinata, and Might Gai, the sensei to Rock Lee, Tenten and Neji. Kakashi Hatake, sensei to Naruto, Sakura and (the currently missing) Sasuke, was on leave, and Asuma Sarutobi, sensei to Shikamaru, Ino and Choji, was dead. Standing alongside the jonin instructors was Neji.

"I'm glad to see that all of you are here," Tsunade remarked, "Now we can begin the Chunnin Tournament!"

"The Chunnin Tournament will play out like the combat portion of the chunnin exams," Kurenai said, "You will all take part in one-on-one matches, with the winners of those matches going on to the next round."

"I expect each and every one of you to give it your all!" Gai proclaimed. Pointing to where Rock Lee and Tenten stood, Gai continued, "This goes doubly so for my own darling students! And it's not just myself who you cannot let down! Your teammate is also among those who will be watching!" Turning to face Neji, Gai said, "Isn't that right, Neji?"

"Please quit embarrassing us, Gai-sensei," Neji remarked casually.

"Now then," Shizune began, "There will be five matches in this first round, with the pairings having been decided ahead of time by Lady Tsunade herself, in the interest of trying to make sure all of the match ups are as fair as possible."

"You cheating whore!" the familiar voice of Kurotsuchi could be heard shouting angrily from the Iwa viewing box. But that was mostly ignored.

"The first match of round one will be between Shikamaru and Naruto," Tsunade explained, "The rest of you can wait up along on the walkway up there." The chunnin turned around and saw a walkway not unlike where they all waited in between matches during their go at the chunnin exams. The chunnin all made their way to the walkway, save for Naruto and Shikamaru.

"Aww man, I have to face you in round one?" Shikamaru said, worried about fighting Naruto.

"You're a pretty smart dude, Shikamaru," Naruto replied as he and Shikamaru stood in opposition to each other, "You shouldn't be selling yourself short."

"This round one match will be between Naruto Uzumaki and Shikamaru Nara," Shizune announced, more for the benefit of the foreign guests that had come to watch the Chunnin Tournament, "Now then…BEGIN!"

Right as Shikamaru started to bring his hands together to use his Shadow Possession Jitsu, Naruto quickly took out and threw some shuriken, aiming to graze against the tops of Shikamaru's hands. Naruto's aim was true, and both shuriken cut the tops of Shikamaru's hands that they were aimed at, causing Shikamaru to flinch and break his concentration.

Not wanting to give Shikamaru any time to use the intellect that has so often been attributed to him, Naruto quickly threw some smoke bombs at the floor of the arena, creating a large cloud of smoke similar to that of the one Kiba made during his match with Naruto during the chunnin exams. " _Naruto is playing hardball_ ," Shikamaru thought, " _Leave it to him to_ -" Shikamaru was brought out of his thoughts when he heard a whirring sound.

Suddenly, Shikamaru dropped to the floor as a foldable Fuma Shuriken whirled overhead. After the Fuma Shuriken had safely flown past, Shikamaru looked up to see Naruto running straight at him. "… _The hell is Naruto up to_?" Shikamaru thought in a confused manner, bringing his hands together to cast Shadow Possession. Not only was Shikamaru finally able to finally initiate his technique, but he had also trapped Naruto as well.

"Heh," Shikamaru chuckled as he started to get up off of the floor, "You sure did give me quite-" Shikamaru was cut off, however; as Shikamaru was halfway from getting up, a punch to the back of his head cut him off, knocking him back to the floor of the arena while making him take his hands apart from each other, breaking the Shadow Possession. As Shikamaru laid face-down on the floor, he felt someone place their foot on his back, grab ahold of his left arm so as to keep him from using any Nara clan techniques, and place the edge of a kunai against his throat. Looking up to his left, Shikamaru saw another Naruto, crouching down, regarding him with mild amusement.

"…Wow, and here I was expecting you to figure out what I was up to," the second Naruto said as the first one, who Shikamaru caught in Shadow Possession, poofed away in a cloud of smoke.

"…Well you certainly weren't giving me the time to plot out a strategy to beat you," Shikamaru remarked with increasing amusement at not only having been beaten by Naruto, but by how easily it happened. Slapping the floor of the arena with his free hand, Shikamaru called out loud enough to be heard, "I would like to forfeit now, please!"

Raising her right hand, Shizune announced, "Shikamaru Nara has surrendered! The winner is Naruto Uzumaki!"

"Oh, come on!" Temari could be heard shouting from the viewing box for the representatives from Suna. Unlike his girlfriend, Shikamaru was holding no hard feelings towards his defeat.

As Naruto helped him up, the Nara chunnin said, "So you threw yourself at me." As the blonde chunnin nodded in the affirmative, Shikamaru said, "Heh, not bad, Naruto. And people think that I'm the only one good at strategy."

When Naruto and Shikamaru reached the walkway where their friends were waiting, they were ambushed by Gai; he, along with Kurenai and Neji, were waiting on the walkway with the chunnin. "That was a spectacular, hot-blooded match!" Gai proclaimed at Naruto and Shikamaru, "Truly the springtime of youth burns brightly in the two of you!" Regarding Naruto in particular, Gai said, "I am especially looking forward to seeing more out of you in your future matches, Naruto!"

"Umm…thanks," Naruto replied, "Anyway, can I get ahold of Sakura or Ino now? I did hit the tops of Shikamaru's hands with some shuriken, and there's more bleeding than I was expecting."

"Yeah, these cuts are smarting more than I would like," Shikamaru confirmed.

Having overheard Naruto's request, Sakura walked over and said, "Very well, let me take a quick look at-"

"The second match of round one will be between Sakura Haruno and Kiba Inuzuka!" Shizune announced from down in the arena, cutting Sakura off.

"…Sorry," Sakura replied, mildly embarrassed.

"Hey, Ino can handle a small job like this no problem," Naruto replied. Offering a fist bump to Sakura, Naruto said, "Go knock Kiba's block off." Accepting the fist-bump, Sakura thanked Naruto for the vote of confidence as she made her way to the arena floor.

As Sakura walked down the steps from the walkway to the arena floor, Ino cheered, "Woohoo! Yeah Sakura! You can win this!"

"Like hell I'll let her!" Kiba shouted as he jumped over the rail of the walkway and landed on the arena floor, followed by Akamaru in a likewise manner; both beast and master beat their pink-haired opponent to the arena floor by a good couple of seconds.

Up on the walkway, Gai remarked to Kurenai, "That student of yours is just as impatient as ever, not to mention the fact he overestimates himself far too much."

"I will admit that Kiba needs to slow it down from time to time," Kurenai replied as she turned to face the Taijitsu master, "But what's this about Kiba overestimating himself?"

"Not only is young miss Haruno one of the students of my eternal rival Kakashi," Gai said, "But she has also been trained by Lady Tsunade herself. Sakura not only has supreme mastery over medical jitsu, but she also has raw strength that rivals, and occasionally eclipses, that of my own student Lee." Shaking his head gently, Gai said, "I'm calling it now. Sakura is going to win."

"…I wouldn't call it yet, but you have a point on everything else," Kurenai remarked.

"Go Sakura!" Ino cheered once again.

"Hey Ino!" Choji said as he walked up to his teammate, "Naruto asked either you or Sakura to heal the cuts on Shikamaru's hands!"

"Oh! Sorry!" Ino said as she turned around and went right over to where Naruto and Shikamaru were at; the Yamanaka chunnin stopped short upon seeing Hinata using Mystical Palm on Shikamaru's cuts. Naruto, noticing that Ino had come up, turned his head to regard her.

"You seemed too busy cheering for Sakura," Naruto said in a mildly sarcastic tone, "Luckily, Hinata also knows the Mystical Palm technique." (4)

"She's actually better at it that Ino," Shikamaru remarked.

"Grr…" Ino growled in an annoyed tone. Walking back over to where Choji was at, Ino turned to face the arena. "Kick Kiba's butt, Sakura!" Ino cheered, a mild amount of anger in her tone.

Like Ino herself, a number of others standing on the walkway were also cheering for Sakura; one could even hear cheering from the viewing boxes for both Suna and Kiri. Thanks to his enhances senses, Kiba heard all of this cheering all too clearly, not to mention every last word spoken by the two jonin sensei. (5)

He let out a quiet, _annoyed_ growl.

As Sakura and Kiba faced each other, Shizune announced, "This round one match will be between Sakura Haruno and Kiba Inuzuka. Now then…" Raising up her right hand in a quick flourish, Shizune said, "BEGIN!"

Kiba and Akamaru leapt back to get some distance from their pink-haired opponent. "Use Dynamic Marking, Akamaru!" Kiba ordered as he reached into his weapons pouch to pull out some shuriken to throw at Sakura. If it hadn't been for the fact that Akamaru was about to mark her, Sakura would have noticed that the haughty tone that Kiba is usually known to sport during combat is totally gone, replaced with a tone of cold brutality.

Sakura leapt back, intending not to get marked by someone's dog, when she noticed the shuriken flying at her. Acting quickly, Sakura concentrated her chakra into her right arm and punched the arena floor in front of her, causing rubble to shoot up and block the shuriken. "Ha!" laughed the pink-haired chunnin, "Like such a straightforward attack could EEEEEWWWWW!"

Sakura stopped midsentence and cried out in disgust as Akamaru's Dynamic Marking hit her. As Akamaru landed back on the ground next to Kiba, the Inuzuka chunnin snapped, "This is what you get for messing with the pack!" Clapping his hands together, Kiba said, "Human-beast mimicry!" Akamaru leapt onto Kiba's back, and not one second later transformed into a copy of his owner. Additionally, both Kiba and the transformed Akamaru had longer, sharpened nails. Their eyes looked wild, and their lips were pulled back in snarls.

"FANG OVER FANG!" Kiba shouted, his tone entirely a mix of brutality and anger as his face became a mask of primal savagery. Both Kiba and the transformed Akamaru spun at Sakura with such speed that it created visible streams of wind.

" _I should be able to avoid this_ ," Sakura thought as she tried to calm herself down from the mild amount of panic she was feeling, " _Kiba and his dog are spinning too fast to_ -" Sakura was cut off mid-thought as both Kiba and Akamaru hit her dead-on. Stumbling to the arena floor, Sakura saw Kiba and the transformed Akamaru come out of using the Fang Over Fang. It was only then that Sakura had noticed that the respective nostrils of both Kiba and the transformed Akamaru were flaring.

" _So_ , _that_ ' _s how they were both able to hit me_ , _despite spinning too fast to see properly_ ," Sakura thought as she struggled to get up. As she was getting up, Sakura finally noticed the looks on Kiba's and Akamaru's respective faces. " _Is_ … _is this really Kiba_?" Sakura thought worriedly as she brought her hands together to use a medical jitsu.

"Like hell I'll let you heal!" Kiba spat savagely, rushing forward to smack Sakura's hands apart with an underhand slap from his left hand. With Sakura off balance slightly, Kiba reached up with his right hand and, with his elongated nails, clawed at the side of Sakura's head, cutting skin and drawing blood.

"AHHHHH!" Sakura cried out in pain, but the Inuzuka chunnin wasn't done yet; pulling his right hand back, Kiba curled it into a fist and used it so smack Sakura against the other side of her head, knocking her to the ground. Right as Sakura fell over prone, Kiba rushed her, grabbing Sakura's throat with his left hand while his right hand was raised back, ready to claw at Sakura at a moment's notice. After a few seconds of no response from Sakura, Kiba got up off of his fallen opponent while still keeping his guard up; Akamaru, who had transformed back to normal, was stalking around, keeping his eyes locked on his owner's opponent as he growled in a threatening manner.

As Kiba and Akamaru waited for a response, Shizune ran up to take a quick look. After examining Sakura for a few seconds, Shizune stood up, raised her right hand and announced, "Sakura Haruno has been knocked out! The winner is Kiba Inuzuka!" (6) As medic ninja came in to place Sakura on a stretcher and carry her out, silence fell upon the arena. Everyone was shocked into silence; although Kiba was a skilled shinobi in his own right, those who knew the Inuzuka chunnin weren't expecting Kiba to defeat Sakura.

But he did.

As Kiba and Akamaru walked back up the stairs to the walkway where his fellow chunnin, the jonin instructors were all waiting, Kurenai and Gai met the Inuzuka chunnin and his Ninkin at the top of the stairs. Both jonin wore looks of mild concern on their faces. "Umm…" Kurenai began, her tone a clear mix of uncertainty and mild worry, "…Congratulations on winning your first match?"

Kiba shifted his gaze to regard his jonin instructor, but otherwise did nothing to acknowledge the praise he had received. After a few seconds, Kiba shifted his gaze to regard Gai. "I sure proved you wrong, didn't I?" Kiba remarked in a tone that was equal parts bitter and angry. Neither Gai or Kurenai did anything to reprimand Kiba; they were both too shocked by this new attitude, this new air of aggression, that the Inuzuka chunnin was giving off. Not helping their case was the fact that Akamaru was mimicking his owner's attitude, acting hostile towards everyone other than Kiba. It's not a good idea to get on the bad side of a large and angry dog, after all.

As Kiba and Akamaru walked past where Naruto, Tenten, Rock Lee and the students of Asuma were waiting, everyone other than Naruto tensed up; the blonde chunnin regarded Kiba and Akamaru with a serious look. Although Naruto's crush on Sakura had long since faded by this point, Naruto still considered Sakura a friend; thus, Naruto doesn't really enjoy seeing Sakura take a beating, even if it's in an official match.

"…Congratulations on your victory, Kiba," Naruto said in an emotionless monotone as the Inuzuka chunnin and his Ninkin walked past them. Hearing Naruto call out made Kiba stop, and when Kiba stopped, so did Akamaru.

"…Akamaru had a hand in it too, you know," was all Kiba said, without bothering to even turn his head to regard Naruto, and with about the same amount of emotion that Naruto had used. Kiba then promptly continued to walk away, Akamaru following him as always.

After a few seconds, Kiba and Akamaru walked by where his teammates were waiting. "That was…" Shino began, clearly unsure on how to talk to Kiba, "…Umm…good job on winning."

"Y-yes, Kiba, good j-job" Hinata stammered with a mild hint of fright, "Although d-did you have t-to be so b-brutal with-"

"ZIP IT, HYUGA!" Kiba snapped, making both Hinata and Shino jump back in surprise. His face once again becoming a mask of primal savagery, Kiba pointed an accusing finger at Hinata's increasingly frightened-looking face. "You're the absolute last person I want to hear any of that kind of crap from," Kiba snarled angrily, "So don't you even frigg'en dare." To help drive his owner's point home, Akamaru made a deep-throated angry growl at the Hyuga chunnin, making her back up as far as the railing would let her. Feeling that the point was made, Kiba walked away while saying, "Come on, Akamaru."

After Kiba and Akamaru walked away from Shino and Hinata, Neji came walking out of a hallway. "Sorry, but I had to use the bathroom," Neji remarked to the two chunnin as he came up to them, "So, what did I miss?"

"Kiba defeated Sakura," Shino remarked, "While managing to frighten the hell out of most every other chunnin here, myself and Hinata included."

"…Is Sakura okay?" Neji asked, a concerned look on his face.

"She'll be fine, Neji-niisan," Hinata replied, "But Kiba…" Shaking her head softly, Hinata said, "…I'm not sure if the same can be said of him."

* * *

Later that evening, Kiba and Akamaru returned to their family's home at the Inuzuka clan compound. Walking in through the front door, Kiba found Hana and their Aunt Pirate sitting on the sofa, watching TV. From the sounds Kiba heard coming from the TV, it was a news story about the first round of the Chunnin Tournament. Looking up from the TV and seeing that her nephew and his Ninkin had returned, Pirate got up, a pleased and amused look on her face.

"Kiba! Akamaru!" Pirate remarked joyously, "The two of you have done the Inuzuka clan proud today, that's for sure!"

"…I take it that you and Hana saw the results of the first-round matches in the Chunnin Tournament?" Kiba asked.

"Yes, we did see the results, Kiba," Hana replied gently as she got up and walked over to join her and Kiba's aunt, "Congratulations on you and Akamaru getting past round one."

"I gotta admit, even if you weren't my nephew, your match against Tsunade's apprentice still would have been my favorite of the round-one matches," Pirate remarked, "Better than Uzumaki beating Nara, Akimichi beating Aburame, Gai's kunoichi beating Gai's mini-me, and LOADS better than Hyuga beating Yamanaka." Holding a fist out to her nephew, Pirate said, "I hope you'll be keeping it up in round two."

Accepting the fist-bump from his aunt, Kiba replied in a mildly emotionless, casual tone, "I got a clan to make proud, don't I?"

"Do you know who you'll be facing in round two?" Hana asked her younger brother.

Shaking his head gently, Kiba replied, "No clue, as the match-ups haven't even been decided yet. But it doesn't matter." Looking his older sister in the face, Kiba continued, "I said that Akamaru and I would make it to the top, and that's just what's going to happen."

"Ha! That's my nephew!" Pirate barked in laughter. Wiping a tear from the corner of her right eye, Pirate added, "Just know that the whole Inuzuka clan will be supporting you all the way! A damn shame Gaku can't be there with the rest of the Inuzuka, though."

"…What do you mean Gaku can't be there with the rest of the Inuzuka clan?" Kiba asked, a confused and mildly concerned look on his face, "I know that he's been sick recently, but he can power through it! He's powered through drunken stupors that would leave even Ma laying on the couch for a whole day, so he can power through his sickness!"

"…" Pirate regarded her nephew with a somber expression, "…It wasn't sickness on its own. Gaku, just like the rest of the Inuzuka clan, was frigg'en starving. Sickness working hand-in-hand with hunger is a real pain in the ass." Shaking her head gently, Pirate said, "I'm sorry, Kiba. I know how much you looked up to Gaku, given that the two of you were the only ninja in the Inuzuka clan that weren't kunoichi. But it looks like his number was called." (7)

His eyes widening with shock, Kiba quietly said, "No…"

"He…he died?" Hana said in a shocked tone as she stepped back; when the backs of her shins made contact with the base of the sofa, Hana sat down. "Gaku actually died?" Hana said as tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, "No, he…he couldn't have, he…he just couldn't have died. There were so few men left in the Inuzuka clan to begin with, and now…now this…"

"Not helping the fact of the matter is that in addition to hunger playing a role, Gaku's specific sickness required a specific medication," Pirate stated, "The Inuzuka clan can't afford the health insurance that would have allowed us to get Gaku the medication he needed, and we certainly can't afford the medication out of our own pocket." Regarding her niece, nephew and nephew's dog, Pirate said in a knowing tone, "I believe I don't have to tell you lot who's to blame."

"…Hyuga…" Kiba muttered in a dark tone.

"Do you finally see reason, Hana?" Pirate asked as she turned to regard her niece specifically, "Do you finally understand what it means to be an Inuzuka? To live your life completely at the mercy of Hyuga whim?"

"…No…" Hana said as she shook her head. Shaking her head more forcefully, Hana shouted, "No! That can't be it! That just can't be it!" Turning around, Hana ran right down one of the hallways, presumably to her room. Hearing a door open, only to be slammed shut a second later, confirmed that theory.

Turning to regard her nephew, Pirate said, "You said that the match-ups for the Chunnin Tournament's second round haven't been decided yet, right?" Kiba didn't reply verbally, only nodding in the affirmative.

"…Can you do your dear aunt a favor and hold down the fort for a while?" Pirate asked in as sweet of a tone as a rough Inuzuka kunoichi could manage. Her tone going back to its usual cruel indifference, Pirate said, "I've got some people to see in town."

TO BE CONTINUED…

END, BEFORE THE REDEMPTION CHAPTER TWO

Author's Notes:

(1) Hiashi wanted to spare Neji the truth; Neji would be able to get to sleep easier.

(2) Kiba's aunt, Pirate, is named after a character mentioned in passing in 'Harold Fisher: Legend of Konoha'. That character Pirate is stated to be of historical significance to the Inuzuka clan, and to Konoha as a whole.

(3) Mei has been shown in the series proper to have trouble when it comes to getting a love life. This is my way of playing around with that fact.

(4) Hinata has been shown using Mystical Palm before.

(5) Although his sense of smell is the most prominent example, Kiba's other senses are likewise enhanced, due to his Inuzuka heritage. Therefore, it stands to reason that Kiba has good hearing in addition to his good sense of smell.

(6) According to the data books, Kiba had Sakura beat in both strength and stamina until the third data book, at which point Kiba and Sakura were tied in both strength and stamina. Additionally, Kiba always has Sakura beat in the speed department. That being said, if he's given the right motivation, I believe that Kiba can prove to be a serious threat.

(7) Gaku was that Inuzuka fellow that was with Minato when he confronted Killer Bee. For the sake of building things up, Gaku's death was required.

I was originally intending to write out all of the matches in this chapter, but by the time I finished the second match, I realized that writing out all five matches would have made this chapter go on _way_ too long. I may end up writing a one-shot where the other matches of round one take place. But yeah, I'm trying my hand at writing content that's at least somewhat darker than my usual fare.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any properties in this work that I did not make myself.

Before the redemption

Chapter three: The Chunnin Tournament part two- The dog, feral

Pirate Inuzuka was is a somber mood as she walked down a street one evening in the village of Konohagakure. Just thirty minutes previous, Pirate had to inform her niece and nephew, Hana and Kiba respectively, that their fellow Inuzuka clan member Gaku had died earlier today, due to a mix of sickness and starvation.

Pirate recalled her nephew Kiba looking especially heartbroken by this news; as he and Gaku were the only two ninja in the Inuzuka clan who weren't kunoichi, Kiba looked up to Gaku quite a bit. As Kiba never really got to know his father Banyo due to Tsume chasing him off (as in she divorced Banyo) back when Kiba was so young, Kiba sort-of saw Gaku as his father. Gaku died about two or so hours before Kiba came home.

And the timing could not have been worse in Pirate's opinion; Konoha was currently hosting a combat tournament, called the Chunnin Tournament, where Kiba and all of his friends who were still chunnin would square off against each other in one-on-one matches. The round one matches took place earlier today; Kiba, with his Ninkin partner Akamaru at his side, won his round one match against Lady Tsunade's apprentice Sakura Haruno.

Hearing about Gaku's death, just after coming home from his round one victory, really brought down Kiba's mood.

As the somber business of managing Gaku's estate, as well as making final arrangements for Gaku's remains, was being handled, Pirate was looking for someone. According to Kiba, the match-ups for the round two matches haven't even been decided yet; due to damage caused to the Chunnin Tournament's arena by Haruno's chakra-enhanced strength and Akimichi's Human Juggernaut, it will be a while before the second-round matches are held.

That gave Pirate all the time she needed to find the person who was in charge of deciding the match-ups for round two.

As she walked past Ichiraku Ramen, the Inuzuka kunoichi heard a customer who was dining there talking to Teuchi the ramen guy. "The round one matches in the Chunnin Tournament today sure were amazing!" the customer, clearly a male that Pirate estimated to be a few years younger than herself, could be heard saying to the owner of Ichiraku Ramen, "Leave it to Lady Fifth to have a great mind when it comes to deciding match-ups!"

"I'm glad to hear that Naruto won his match in round one," a female voice replied to the customer; Pirate believed this voice to be that of Teuchi's daughter Ayame, who worked at her father's ramen place.

"You know, I haven't seen Naruto come in for quite a while," Teuchi's voice could be heard saying, "It must be due to all of the missions he's been doing ever since he went up in rank. He's a real go-getter, that Naruto. His victory in his round one match in the Chunnin Tournament is further proof of that, if you ask me."

"Do you know who else won in round one?" Ayame's voice could be heard asking.

"Inuzuka, Akimichi, Hyuga, and Gai's kunoichi student," the customer's voice replied.

"Ah, so Choji won as well!" Teuchi's voice said, "I've seen him come by here quite a lot as well. In fact, Choji's been a more frequent customer than Naruto as of late."

"I don't suppose you know the match-ups Lady Tsunade decided upon for round two, do you?" Ayame's voice could be heard asking.

"Oh, Lady Tsunade left the business of deciding the round-two match-ups to me," the customer's voice replied, "I think Lady Tsunade was more concerned about personally seeing to her apprentice's recovery. Inuzuka did give that girl one hell of a beating in their match, after all."

"… _You don_ ' _t say_ ," Pirate thought as she turned to face Ichiraku Ramen, figuring she had enough ryo on-hand to buy the least expensive bowl of ramen on the menu. (1) Entering the popular ramen establishment, Pirate saw that there were only three people inside; Teuchi, his daughter Ayame, and a random Konoha shinobi in his mid to late thirties. He wore a flask jacket, so he had to at the very least be a chunnin. Looking to the establishment's owner, Pirate greeted him with a friendly-sounding, "Word up with thee?"

"Can I help you, ma'am?" Teuchi asked in a kind, professional manner befitting a man who has been in the ramen business for a good number of years.

Taking a quick look at the menu on the wall, or more specifically the prices, Pirate realized that she would actually have a bit more money to work with than she had originally anticipated. Shifting her gaze back to Teuchi, Pirate replied, "I heard a lot of people, mostly kids in their teens, speak nothing but praise for this place. I figured I'd give dining here a shot." As she gave her explanation, Pirate walked over to the bar, sat in the stool on the left of the Konoha shinobi, and ordered the least expensive bowl of ramen on the menu.

As Teuchi went about making up Pirate's order while Ayame went into the back to check on how much ingredients for making ramen were left, Pirate turned to regard the Konoha shinobi on her right. "So, tell me, young man," Pirate said to the Konoha shinobi, "What brings a shinobi like yourself over here?"

"I was just looking to grab some dinner," the Konoha shinobi replied as the conversation that Pirate was hoping for started up, "You know, eat out while going over who to pair up with who in the Chunnin Tournament's second round matches."

"You don't say," Pirate remarked as she asked for a thing of sake and two sake cups; Pirate can afford it, though it would leave her current on-hand funds looking rather anemic as a result. But Pirate figured that if she can get secrets out of her older twin sister Tsume by plying her with alcohol (Tsume was a sucker for Pape Konoha's Brand Lager), Pirate figured that the same can be done with the kid sitting next to her. (2)

As the Inuzuka kunoichi poured both herself and the Konoha shinobi one cup of sake each, Pirate asked as she slid one of the cups over to her impromptu drinking partner, "I don't suppose you'd care to tell me who's going to be in round two of the Chunnin Tournament, do you?"

"Let me pull my list out," the Konoha shinobi replied as he reached into his back-right pocket on his pants to pull out a folded-up sheet of paper. When the Konoha shinobi unfolded the sheet of paper, Pirate saw various possible pairings written out. "The real pain in the rear is that, with five chunnin competing in round two, the odd one out will have to fight the winner of one of the matches in round two," the Konoha shinobi remarked, "I'm not quite sure who to make the odd chunnin out, though." The Konoha shinobi drained the cup of sake that Pirate offered him, then asked for more. Pirate was all too happy to oblige the young man, as she wanted him as loosened by drink as possible. Loose lips sink ships and all that jazz.

"I don't think that Uzumaki should be the odd chunnin out, if you want my opinion," Pirate remarked. Hearing Pirate mention Naruto's name caught Ayame's attention; Ayame had taken over for her father in preparing food since Teuchi had left to make a delivery in the time Pirate and the Konoha shinobi had been talking to each other thus far.

"You don't think Naruto should be the odd one out?" Ayame asked loud enough to be heard; as she was facing away from the customers, not wanting to take her eyes off of the food she was preparing, Ayame had to speak a bit louder.

"That kid's a frigg'en beast from what I've been hearing," Pirate remarked, having heard enough of Naruto's reputation to be able to give a reasonable (and believable) spiel to Ayame and the Konoha shinobi, "Hell, I'm surprised that the boy's still a chunnin. Uzumaki should be a jonin by now, if what I've been hearing about him is correct!"

"You got a point," the Konoha shinobi remarked to the Inuzuka kunoichi, "In fact, Naruto's probably going to win his first round-two match, regardless of who he's paired to face, so pairing the winner of that match against the odd chunnin out later in round two may be the best course of action, in the interest of fairness."

"If anyone can win two matches in round two of the Chunnin Tournament, it's Naruto," Ayame said in a confident tone.

Seeing that her impromptu drinking partner's sake cup was once again empty, Pirate offered to fill it up again. As the Konoha shinobi gratefully accepted more sake, Pirate said to him in a somewhat sly manner, "I don't suppose you'd be interested in letting me help you brainstorm some ideas for match-ups in round two, do you?"

* * *

The next day, Naruto Uzumaki was grabbing lunch somewhere in Konoha. The blonde chunnin was glad for the break between rounds in the Chunnin Tournament; Naruto was confident in his skills as a shinobi, not to mention the fact that he's got Kurama in his corner. But seeing as how this is not war, Naruto saw no reason for there to be multiple days of back-to-back combat. It's nice to take a breather every once and a while, ya know?

Thus, Naruto was grabbing lunch (okay, Naruto was just drinking a soda; but it was a large one) at some establishment somewhere in Konoha. Naruto wasn't alone in his dining either; Udon, one of the three genin who looks up to Naruto as a big brother figure, spotted Naruto as he entered the establishment, ran up to him, and asked to join him, saying that he needed to talk something over with him. Seeing that Udon wore a concerned look on his face, Naruto let the bespectacled genin join him.

"…A stalker?" Naruto said in a tone that was three parts confused, seven parts worried as Udon was telling a story. (3)

Staring down at his chicken sandwich, Udon replied, "Y-yeah, Big Bro. Konohamaru, Moegi and I have been getting the feeling that there's a stalker following us around. It's usually at one of the training grounds, mostly the one to practice aim with throwing weapons."

"I'll let Granny Tsunade know as soon as I can," Naruto said before taking a sip of his drink, "She can set up a watch, and maybe catch this stalker red-handed."

"You really think so, Big Bro?" Udon asked.

Nodding assuredly, Naruto replied, "Udon, when have I ever-"

"I still can't believe how brutal your teammate is, Hinata," Sakura's voice said, loud enough for Naruto to hear. Shifting his gaze slightly, Naruto saw his friend and teammate, Sakura Haruno, getting lunch with the other girls of the Konoha eleven; Hinata Hyuga, Ino Yamanaka and Tenten. Naruto silently signaled Udon to be quiet; although Naruto knew the girls were here, the girls didn't know Naruto was here.

"Seriously, Hinata," Sakura said to the Hyuga chunnin, "Kiba seemed less like the brash, prideful guy we all have always known him to be, and more like a man possessed."

"I'm going to have to agree with Sakura on this one," Tenten remarked, "What the hell has gotten into Kiba?"

"I…I have no clue what to tell you girls," Hinata admitted worriedly, "I've never seen Kiba like this before. I have no clue what's making him act so hostile. What's worse is that Akamaru is acting in the same manner towards everyone other than Kiba and everyone else in their clan."

"Well hopefully whoever is paired to fight him in the second round of the Chunnin Tournament will knock some sense into the beast," Ino said firmly. When Hinata gave her a look that was three parts appalled and seven parts confused, Ino continued, "Oh come on, Hinata! Did you not see how badly Kiba beat Sakura? Did you not notice how coolly he dismissed what little praise he got for winning yesterday?" Leaning somewhat closer to Hinata (they sat across from each other and at opposite corners), Ino said, "Do you not remember how cruelly he snapped at you?"

"…" Hinata did not reply to Ino's questioning, instead looking down sadly at her meal.

"Well girls, just let me handle it," Tenten said in a confident tone.

"You, Tenten?" Sakura asked, looking mildly lost.

"You girls forget that I've been in the ninja business for a year more than you," Tenten pointed out. Leaning back in her seat, Tenten continued in a self-amused tone as she jerked a thumb as her chest, "Just let your good ol' Tenten-sempai clean up your mess for you. I'm going to be winning the Chunnin Tournament, after all."

"You aren't going to win," Hinata said, drawing the attention of the other girls.

"…What do you mean I'm not going to win?" Tenten asked in a suspicious tone, "What, you think you can beat me? Girl, I've been training with a member of your clan for years. I know just how to-"

"I'm not going to win either," Hinata interrupted in a casual tone as she picked up a fry, dipped in in a small pile of ketchup that was on her burger wrapper, and popped it into her mouth.

Her suspicious tone replaced with one of confusion, Tenten asked, "What are you talking about, Hinata?"

"Hinata, I thought that you've finally gotten over your past insecurity and built up some confidence," Ino remarked in a mildly concerned tone, "Don't tell me that you're relapsing."

Smiling in a knowing manner, Sakura said to the Yamanaka chunnin, "Relax, Ino. That's not the case at all." Turning her head to regard Hinata, Sakura continued, "You think Naruto's going to win, don't you, Hinata?"

"Not think, know," Hinata replied, "I _know_ Naruto-kun's going to win."

Giggling in a mildly mischievous manner, Tenten remarked, "You seriously got it bad for Naruto, don't you Hinata?" Clapping the Hyuga chunnin on the back, Tenten said in an amused tone, "Sorry to burst your bubble, hon, but I'm going to be wrecking your little boyfriend in the Chunnin Tournament. Assuming, of course, I get to fight him."

"H-h-h-he's not m-my boyfriend!" Hinata stammered in embarrassment. Scrunching up somewhat, Hinata looked down at her lunch, blushing spreading across her face. "Although that would be really, really nice, now that you mention it," Hinata added shyly.

Back over at the counter where Naruto and Udon were having lunch, Naruto whispered, "Hey Udon, you wanna go?"

"Yeah sure, but why?" Udon asked, "I mean, my hearing isn't as good as yours, Big Bro, so I couldn't hear anything those girls were talking about. Did one of them say something that made you feel uncomfortable?"

"Not really," Naruto replied, draining the last of his soda (there weren't any ice cubes) and tossing it in a trash can next to the door as he and Udon exited the establishment. " _Quite the opposite_ , _actually_ ," Naruto thought as a small smile appeared on his face.

* * *

If a shinobi in his clan dying was the only way that he'd _finally_ get something to eat, then Kiba Inuzuka would much rather starve to death.

The estate of the late Gaku Inuzuka had been liquidated, and as such there was finally a bit of money to go around in the Inuzuka clan. Tearing a bite out of a melon-flavored melon bread that his older sister Hana had gotten for him when she did a quick run to a convenience store, Kiba could not help but scowl. If it wasn't for the fact that tears were slowly running down the sides of his face, one would think that nothing but angry thoughts were running through Kiba's mind at the moment.

There were still plenty of angry thoughts, though.

Kiba was sitting at the dining room table in his family's home in the Inuzuka clan compound. He turned the chair he was sitting in to the right before sitting down; this resulted in Kiba facing the living room area. Kiba was somewhat hunched over, his elbows resting on his knees, as he brought the melon bread he was eating (it was in his right hand) up to his mouth so he could take another bite.

Never did something so sweet taste so bitter to the Inuzuka chunnin.

As he chewed his latest bite, Kiba looked down to his right; Akamaru, Kiba's loyal Ninkin, was laying on the floor on Kiba's right. Kiba, his expression softening upon looking to his Ninkin, tore a bit of his melon bread off and tossed it to the large ninja dog, who quickly snapped it up. With a small but sad smile, Kiba reached down to ruffle the top of his loyal ninja dog's head.

Kiba's and Akamaru's attention was brought over to the front door when they both heard it open; walking into the house was Kiba's sister Hana, along with their Aunt Pirate. Both women were carrying a number of grocery bags. Akamaru had gotten up and walked over to greet the two Inuzuka kunoichi, sniffing at the grocery bags in a curious manner as he wagged his tail.

"Kiba, call your dog off, would you?" Pirate said, more asking than telling. At Kiba's command, Akamaru immediately trotted back over to his side. "I bet you weren't expecting this, dear nephew of mine," Pirate said with a slightly mischievous grin as she held up the grocery bags she was carrying, "But the three of us are going to get to do something tonight that we haven't done yet this week. Have dinner!"

"Our clan's Ninkin got food too, right?" Kiba asked, a concerned look on his face.

"What do you think the kunoichi working at our clan's kennel took care of when I handed them some of the money from Gaku's liquidated estate?" Pirate replied, "Don't worry, Kiba. They got enough bags of dog food to make sure all of the Ninkin are fed."

His shoulders sagging somewhat in a sign of relief, Kiba said, "Good." Leaning back in the chair that he sat in, Kiba sighed and said, "That's good." Turning the chair that he sat in back around so that he was properly sitting at the table, Kiba laid his arms across each on the surface in front of him, then laid his head down on his arms so that his forehead was pressing against the arms. "…Why did this have to happen?" Kiba said sadly.

"Why did we have to get food?" Hana asked in a confused tone.

"Not getting the food in and of itself, I mean _how_ we were able to get it," Kiba corrected.

"It's just the Inuzuka clan's lot in life, Kiba," Pirate replied, "Even though we did not chose it, even though we cannot escape it, no matter how many mission our clan's shinobi complete to try and do something about our funding problem, not to mention our debt."

Setting the bags that she was carrying down on the table at the end opposite of where Kiba was sitting, Pirate said, "You know, dear nephew of mine, who's to blame for this."

"…Hyuga…" Kiba muttered bitterly.

"Aunt Pirate, will you please quit trying to fill Kiba's head with that nonsense?" Hana asked, "The Hyuga clan is nowhere near as bad as you and most of the other women in our clan are painting them out to be!"

"She's got a point, Aunt Pirate," Kiba remarked as he stood up, "The Hyuga clan isn't as bad as they're being painted out to be." Hana looked happy that her younger brother seemed to have finally stopped believing the anti-Hyuga spiel that their aunt and most of the Inuzuka clan's other kunoichi have been going on about. However, Hana's smile was dashed when Kiba, his brow furrowed, said, "You and the other women of our clan have been far too generous. The Hyuga clan's loads worse than what has actually been said about them."

Pirate gave an uproarious bark of laughter. "Ah man, Kiba, that is too true," Pirate said as she wiped a tear from her eye. Unable to stand being in the vicinity, Hana sat the groceries she was carrying down and ran off to her bedroom. "Ah, don't mind her," Pirate said, "She'll be forced to come out when dinner is ready. That girl may be able to fool herself, but Hana cannot fool her stomach. She's just as hungry as the rest of the Inuzuka clan."

As she went about putting groceries away, Pirate continued, "But you especially have to eat tonight. The second round of the Chunnin Tournament is tomorrow, isn't it? You'll be needing as much strength as you can muster."

"Yeah, the Chunnin Tournament's next round is tomorrow," Kiba replied as he sat back down in the chair he was using. Somberly, Kiba remarked, "I wish Gaku was still alive, though. I bet that he would have loved to see Akamaru and I win the whole shebang."

As she was facing away from her nephew (she was putting some cans of food in a cabinet), Pirate's knowing smirk was not seen. "…Something tells me that you'll be doing Gaku proud tomorrow, Kiba," Pirate remarked, her smirk growing slightly.

* * *

The next day, everyone had gathered over at the arena where the first-round matches of the Chunnin Tournament took place. The representatives from Suna, Iwa and Kiri were back in their viewing boxes, and the Konoha eleven, with Kurenai Yuhi and Might Gai watching them, were waiting around on the walkway that overlooked the arena. Even though Sakura, Shikamaru, Ino, Shino and Rock Lee were all knocked out, they still came to watch and cheer on their friends who were still in the Chunnin Tournament.

"Okay, Choji," Ino said to her teammate as she and Shikamaru were giving the Akimichi chunnin a pep-talk, "You're the only one out of Team Asuma to have made it past the first round. It's up to you to do Asuma-sensei proud, alright?"

"I don't intend to lose," Choji replied in a confident tone, "And even if I do go down, it won't be without a fight."

Patting his best friend's right shoulder, Shikamaru said, "We have the utmost confidence in you, Choji. When you get out there, make sure you wow the audience."

"Of course," Choji remarked with a nod.

A different kind of conversation was going down over where Gai and his students were waiting around. For starters, Gai and Rock Lee, with tears streaming down their respective faces, were giving Tenten a group hug.

"Oh Tenten!" Gai exclaimed tearfully, "As your teacher, I have done wrong by you! By putting more focus onto Neji due to him being a jonin, as well as putting more focus onto Rock Lee due to his steadfast dedication to his dream of becoming a splendid ninja with only Taijitsu, I have left you in the dark! But you have proven, by your own merits, that you have what it takes to stand with the boys! Please forgive me!"

"Please forgive me as well!" Rock Lee exclaimed, "I knew that you were skilled, but I did not expect that skill to be equal to that of my own, or that of others who I have chosen as rivals! I did not give you the credit that you so rightfully deserve!"

"Umm," Tenten said as she tried to wiggle out of the group hug, "That's, ehh…alright." With Neji's help in prying the Taijitsu masters off of her, Tenten was finally freed of the group hug. Facing the guys on her team, Tenten said with a confident smirk, "Lee, Gai-sensei, the two of you can make it up to me by cheering me on as win all of my matches, not to mention when I win the Chunnin Tournament as a whole."

"I like that confidence of yours, Tenten," Gai said as he did his trademarked nice-guy pose, "You're going to be a shining star in Konoha, that's for sure!"

"Excuse me, everyone!" Shizune's voice called down from the arena. All eyes turned to where Shizune, who is acting as a proctor for the Chunnin Tournament, stood in the arena. "We're about to begin the second round of the Chunnin Tournament," Shizune announced, "The first match of round two will be between Naruto and Choji!"

"Oh man, good luck with that," Shikamaru said to his best friend as he patted the Akimichi chunnin on the back.

"Grr," Tenten muttered up where she waited with her team, "Naruto better not lose to Choji. I've already called dibs on being the person to knock Naruto out!"

Down in the arena, as Naruto and Choji stood before each other, Choji said, "Hey Naruto, just so you know, I'm afraid that I can't allow myself to lose to you." Jerking a thumb up to the viewing box for Konoha natives, Choji said, "I've got someone special watching, so I can't afford to look uncool in front of her." Naruto shifted his gaze somewhat to the Konoha viewing box; he saw Karui sitting next to three Akimichi clan men.

Shifting his gaze back to his opponent, Naruto remarked, "Then you better focus on not looking uncool, because I'm going to win this one."

Smirking in an amused manner, Choji said, "I'm glad to see that you're going to take this seriously. I'd hate for you to sandbag me."

Raising her right hand, Shizune announced, "This round two match will be between Naruto Uzumaki and Choji Akimichi! Now then…BEGIN!"

Both chunnin leapt back to get some distance from each other. Choji immediately used Human Juggernaut to turn into a large ball, then proceeded to roll right at Naruto. The blonde chunnin made a sideward leap to his left to avoid being flattened. When the rolling sphere of Choji made a turn to try and continue running down Naruto, Naruto's eyes widened in surprise.

" _Oh yeah_ ," Naruto thought as Choji continued to roll at him, " _Choji can do that_."

Naruto acted quickly, bringing his hands together to make a hand sign. Right as Naruto did so, Choji rolled up and seemingly struck him. Coming out of his Human Juggernaut, Choji pumped a fist into the air and said, "Alright! I Finally hit-" Choji was cut off, however, when he was struck from the side by surprise; Naruto had created a Shadow Clone to distract Choji, who was rolling too fast to see what the blonde chunnin was up to. With Choji caught off guard because he thought he hit Naruto, the real Naruto struck him on his left with a Rasengan, which threw him into the wall to the Akimichi's right.

As Choji picked himself back up, he said to Naruto, "…I was worried you'd be underestimating me, but it seems I've underestimated you. Sorry about that, man." Bringing his hands together, Choji said, "Looks like I've got to make it up to you by going all out. Expansion Jitsu!" Naruto's eyes widened somewhat in surprise as Choji suddenly grew more and more, eventually becoming as big of a giant as what the space in the indoor arena would allow.

As Choji walked closer to Naruto, the arena quaking slightly with each of Choji's steps, Naruto leapt up into the air. Choji swung his right hand at Naruto, intending to swat him. Choji missed, and his right hand ended up smacking onto the floor. Acting quickly, Naruto wove some hands signs before saying, "Earth Style: Dark Swamp!"

Suddenly, a swamp of dark mud appeared around Choji, capturing his right hand and both of his feet. With the enlarged Akimichi trapped, Naruto landed outside of the edge of the Dark Swamp so that he was facing Choji, created a Rasengan, then leapt up and smacked the Rasengan right into the middle of Choji's forehead. The blonde chunnin hit Choji with enough force to knock him back, making him fall over onto his back; as he fell, Choji shrunk back down to his original size. When Choji finally landed flat on his back, the look on his face showed that he had been knocked out.

After taking a quick look at Choji, Shizune raised her right hand and announced, "Choji Akimichi has been defeated! The winner is Naruto Uzumaki!" There was cheering all around, although those who were banking on Choji winning were mildly upset.

"Choji…lost?" Karui said in a mildly shocked tone as she leaned back in the chair she sat in up in the Konoha viewing box.

Turning to his left so that he can face Choji's girlfriend, one of the Akimichi men remarked, "Now Karui, I know that you were hoping that Choji would win. I mean, I myself was hoping that Choza's son would win his match." With a gentle shake of his head, the Akimichi man added in a gentle and understanding tone, "But there is no shame in losing to a skilled and worthy opponent like that. We'll just have to make sure there's extra servings for Choji at dinner tonight. Nothing helps with recovering better than good food."

Back down in the arena, Naruto walked over to Choji and held out a hand. "Need a hand up?" Naruto offered Choji as the Akimichi chunnin came to.

Seeing the offered hand, Choji gratefully accepted it, and said as Naruto pulled him up, "Thanks for taking our match seriously, Naruto. That was one hell of a fight." (4)

"I think there's a nurse's office or something like that located next to the restrooms here," Naruto said, "You want I should take you over?"

"Why not?" Choji replied with a smile, "I'd be glad for the company."

As Naruto and Choji reached the top of the stairs to the walkway, they were greeted by Shikamaru, Ino, Sakura and Hinata. "That was one hell of a fight, you guys," Shikamaru remarked in an impressed tone, "I'm kind of glad that Naruto didn't pull that swamp jitsu of his on me during our match. It looks vicious."

"I was kind of hoping that Choji would win, given he's the only person on Team Asuma who didn't get knocked out in round one," Ino said in a mock annoyed tone. Changing to a genuine impressed tone, Ino added, "But I guess I can't fault you guys for a match well fought, can I?"

"Good job, you guys," Sakura said, "Especially you, Naruto. Congratulations on the win!"

"Y-yes, Naruto-kun," Hinata stammered mildly in a flustered manner, "Congratulations!"

Acknowledging the congratulations that he was being given, Naruto said, "Thanks, everyone. Now if you'll all excuse us, I have to take Choji over to that nurse's office so he can get patched up a bit."

"I wonder if they have snacks there?" Choji remarked as he held a hand to his stomach, "I could really use something to eat right about now."

Naruto, Sakura, Ino and Shikamaru all laughed in good nature, as this was something that just goes to prove that Choji is Choji. After Naruto and Choji left for the nurse's office, everyone went back over to where they were waiting; Shikamaru and Ino over with Team Gai, and Sakura and Hinata over with Kurenai. "Naruto's certainly come a long way, hasn't he?" Sakura remarked to the Hyuga chunnin, "I mean, Naruto's defeated both Shikamaru and Choji! Who knew that he'd do so well?"

Blushing somewhat profusely, Hinata said, "W-well, that's N-Naruto-kun for you." Hinata ended it with a small smile and a cute giggle.

After the last remains of the Dark Swamp vanished, Shizune held up a hand and announced, "The second match of round two will be between Hinata Hyuga and Kiba Inuzuka!" After this announcement was made, concerned mummering started going around the arena, particularly along the walkway.

Kiba said nothing, however; with a monotonous 'Hmph', the Inuzuka chunnin leapt over the rail of the walkway and landed on the arena floor, with Akamaru following after him in a likewise manner. The way Kiba entered like this was not unlike that of how he entered the arena in his last match of the Chunnin Tournament.

"You…you've got to be kidding me," Sakura muttered as she stood up on the walkway with Hinata, "You have to fight Kiba?"

"I g-guess so," Hinata replied, stammering a bit out of nervousness. Right as Hinata turned to walk down the steps to enter the arena, she was stopped by Neji.

"…Lady Hinata," Neji began in a concerned tone, "If I were you, I would surrender the match to Kiba right now. He's…I don't think he's not in a right state of mind right now."

Hands on her waist, Sakura said to the Hyuga prodigy, "You know, Neji, it wasn't all that long ago when Kiba was advising Hinata to surrender a match to you." (5) Giving Neji a knowing look, Sakura said, "You _do_ know what I'm talking about, right?" Caught by what Sakura was trying to get at, Neji could not reply properly.

"Relax, Neji," Sakura said, "You do have a point about Kiba not being in a right state of mind right now. But who better to knock some sense into him that one of his own teammates?"

"…" Neji turned to regard his cousin before saying in the same concerned tone, "Do you believe you can stand up to what Kiba can throw at you, Lady Hinata?"

"We've been on the same team for years, Neji-niisan," Hinata replied, still somewhat nervous, "I have a pretty good idea of what Kiba's capable of."

"…Well alright then," Neji relented, "Just be careful, alright? Your father is among those in the Konoha viewing box watching the Chunnin Tournament, and I'm certain he'd hate to see Kiba do to you what Kiba did to Sakura." It was true; over in the Konoha viewing box, seated behind the three Akimichi men and Karui, was Hiashi Hyuga, Hinata's father. On Hiashi's right sat Ko Hyuga, a member of the Hyuga clan's cadet branch, same as Neji. On Hiashi's left was Hanabi, his other daughter and Hinata's little sister.

Nodding in acknowledgement to her older cousin, Hinata proceeded to make her way over to the stairs to head down into the arena. Right as she reached the stairs, Hinata was stopped by Kurenai. A look of concern on her face, Kurenai said, "Hinata…please be okay." Shaking her head gently, Kurenai added, "I'd…I'd hate it if you got seriously hurt."

Smiling gently, Hinata replied, "I'm going to be fine, Kurenai-sensei. This is just a match, so Kiba isn't going to seriously hurt me."

Nodding once, Kurenai said, "Alright. Just don't push yourself."

Down on the arena floor, Kiba, with his patience growing ever so slightly shorter, never once took his eyes off of his opponent. The Inuzuka chunnin's sharpened hearing allowed him to catch everything that was said between Hinata and the people who spoke to her. His arms hanging by his side, Kiba merely curled his hands into fists before relaxing them.

The only sign that Kiba was giving that showed how annoyed he was.

After a few seconds, Hinata finally made her way down to the arena floor, taking a position where she stood in front of Kiba. Raising her right hand, Shizune announced, "This round two match will be between Hinata Hyuga and Kiba Inuzuka. Now then…BEGIN!"

With such speed that Hinata was mildly startled, Kiba and Akamaru leapt back, with Kiba reaching into his weapons pouch and tossing some smoke bombs that he pulled out. When the giant cloud of smoke filled the arena, Hinata, deep in the center of the smoke, activated her Byakugan to try and see through it. However, Hinata discovered to her shock that her eyes couldn't penetrate it.

"H-how come I can't see through this smoke?" Hinata said in a tone that was three-parts shocked, seven-parts worried.

"It's a special formula for making smoke bombs that only my clan knows," Kiba's voice could be heard saying from somewhere in the smoke cloud. As Akamaru's deep-throated growling sounded from somewhere else in the smoke cloud, Kiba's voice continued, "Regardless of whatever ocular powers they possess, no one can see through this smoke. NO ONE." To her fright, Hinata saw a pair of eyes, their brows furrowed in anger, seemingly glowing through the thick cloud of smoke.

"…Of course," Kiba's voice added coolly, "That doesn't mean that someone can't _smell_ their way through the smoke. Human-beast mimicry!" Hinata then heard the sound of a transformation jitsu going off, followed by her teammate shouting, "FANG OVER FANG!" Faster than she could have hoped to block, Hinata was struck by both Kiba and the transformed Akamaru.

Up on the walkway, as everyone was watching, they heard Hinata cry out in pain. "Ah man, why won't this smoke clear up already?!" Sakura said as she started to panic for Hinata's sake, "And how come Kiba was able to hit Hinata with his Fang Over Fang technique? I thought that he had to have his dog mark someone first before he can pull that off without missing!"

"…Hinata, Shino and I have been working with Kiba for years," Kurenai remarked, getting the attention of Sakura and most of the other chunnin, "He's familiar enough with how we all smell so that he can track any of us through such a cloud of smoke without having to put any sort of scent on us beforehand." Looking down to the floor of the walkway, Kurenai continued in a mildly sad tone, "Having incredibly sharpened senses is a perk of being born into the Inuzuka clan, I suppose."

Back down in the arena, as the smoke started to clear, Hinata heard both Kiba and the transformed Akamaru spinning at her, but from opposite directions. Acting quickly, the Hyuga chunnin used her Rotation technique, spinning around in place at an incredible speed while creating a dome-shaped shield that could block any assault. The two spinning fangs struck the dome on opposite ends, pushing against it momentarily before ultimately bouncing off.

Coming out of his ultra-fast spinning, Kiba landed on all fours about ten or so feet from Hinata. Glaring up at the Hyuga chunnin with a savage, bloodthirsty gaze, Kiba snarled, "Don't think you can block Akamaru's and my attacks forever." If Hinata was frightened before, she was downright terrified now; she had _never_ seen anyone so angry, so brutal, so _willing to kill_.

And it was all aimed at her.

Shaking somewhat in terror, Hinata tried raising her left hand as she said, "I s-AHHHHH!" Kiba cut Hinata off by quickly taking some shuriken out and throwing them at Hinata, with one of them getting lodged in the middle of Hinata's left hand palm. Blood trickled down the bottom of Hinata's forearm and down into the sleeve of her lavender and cream jacket.

"Like hell I'll let you use any jitsu!" Kiba barked savagely as he charged at his injured opponent, his nostrils flaring due to having caught the scent of blood.

His _prey_ ' _s_ blood.

With his nails, elongated by the effects of his Human-beast mimicry, Kiba made a swiping motion at Hinata's neck with his right hand. Scratching the left side of Hinata's neck, Kiba's nails cut just hard enough to draw blood. And only just.

Panicking, and while covering the scratched and bleeding side of her neck with her good hand, Hinata raised her right foot up and shot it forward, striking the Inuzuka chunnin in the stomach hard enough to make him back off a bit. Regaining his balance about ten to twelve feet back, Kiba looked Hinata in the eyes, his pupils becoming more vertical slits than round. Growling like a feral canine, Kiba said, "Akamaru!"

Understanding the cue, Kiba's loyal Ninkin, having transformed back to normal, ran up to Hinata, lunged up at her right arm, and bit down on the forearm to pull it down; with Hinata's right hand taken away, her scratched and bleeding neck was once again exposed. Rushing at the Hyuga chunnin once again, Kiba, his brow furrowed in savage rage, snarled, "Let's give this another go!"

Up on the walkway, as everyone was watching the match with equal measures of worry and fear, Sakura and the other female chunnin turned to face Kurenai. "Kurenai-sensei, you've got to do something to stop this!" Sakura half exclaimed half begged as tears started rolling down the sides of her face, "Kiba is going to kill Hinata at this rate!"

"H-he wouldn't," Kurenai said in a shocked tone, her eyes widening in shock and worry as she slowly shook her head, "There's no way that Kiba would seriously do something like-"

*SHUK*

The next few seconds after she fell to the floor and laid prone seemed to be blurred for Hinata; she could see both Kiba and Akamaru, the latter having let go of her right forearm, make one last attempt to lunge at her. However, two figures, Kurenai and Neji, leapt in to grab Kiba and Akamaru respectively to push them away. The last thing that the Hyuga chunnin saw before she lost consciousness was Sakura and a random Konoha medic ninja rush over to her, their hands already glowing with the chakra of the Mystical Palm technique.

* * *

In the nurse's office of the arena building, Naruto and Choji sat around, with Naruto in a chair and Choji on the bed. Choji was shoveling handful after handful of chips into his mouth while Naruto, watching Choji with some degree of amazement, quietly sipped a can of soda. "Hey *munch* *munch* Naruto," Choji said to his friend between mouthfuls, "Sound to me like it's *munch* *munch* really getting wild out *munch* *munch* there."

"I'll agree to that," Naruto remarked before taking another sip of his drink.

"If I were a guessing man," Choji continued as he got up to toss out his empty bag of chips, "I'd say that either Tenten's going wild out there with her weapons, or Kiba and Akamaru are tearing things up out there with Fang Over Fang." Sitting back down on the nurse's office's bed, Choji took out another bag of chips, opened it, and took some chips from it to shove into his mouth. "Maybe a *munch* *munch* generous mix of both," the Akimichi chunnin remarked.

"If that last one is the case, then that means Hinata will have to fight either me, or whoever wins the Kiba-Tenten fight," Naruto replied, "I think that'll be up to miss Shizune, since she's the proctor for the Chunnin Tournament."

As Naruto and Choji continued their conversation, Shikamaru and Ino appeared in the doorway of the nurse's office. Shikamaru looked entirely freaked out, and Ino seemed to be on the verge of tears. "Hey guys, what's wrong?" Choji began, "The two of you look like you've both-"

"Hinata's just been rushed to the hospital!" Ino blurted out as the tears that were threatening to come out suddenly gushed forth without restraint, "Kiba tried to rip her throat out during their match!"

Both Choji and Naruto went wide-eyed with shock, with both boys dropping whatever they were eating or drinking. "W-what?" Naruto said, looking too shocked to form a coherent sentence.

Sighing, Shikamaru explained, "Kiba didn't literally try to rip Hinata's throat out. But he _did_ claw deep enough to slit it. Hinata also got a shuriken embedded deep in the palm of her left hand, and Akamaru bit down on her right forearm hard enough to pierce her flesh." Shaking his head in a manner that was equal parts disappointed and confused, Shikamaru said, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that Kiba actually _wanted_ to kill Hinata."

"N-no way…" Choji said quietly, too shocked by what he was told to show any actual emotion.

Turning to face Naruto, Shikamaru said, "Well anywho Naruto, miss Shizune said that you're going to be fighting Tenten in the extra match this round, so you better get out there."

"…Right," the blonde chunnin replied as he got up and walked out of the nurse's office, his expression equal parts angry and grim.

* * *

"As much as I hate to reopen this wound," Neji said in a pained tone to his teammates as they waited up on the walkway, "I wasn't disqualified from the Chunnin exams for nearly killing Lady Hinata. Going along that logic, it's no surprise that not only was Kiba not disqualified, but was also allowed to advance, as he did technically win his match."

"You're actually defending that monster?!" Tenten exclaimed at the Hyuga prodigy, "You have the sharpest eyes out of everyone in your clan, Neji, so you should have easily been able to see that Kiba was clearly trying to _kill your cousin_! The fact that Kiba had tried to kill anyone should have gotten him the boot!"

"Actually, Tenten," Rock Lee said somewhat meekly as he opened a small rulebook, "There's nothing in the rules for the Chunnin Tournament that expressly forbids killing your opponent. It's just strongly suggested." Looking around the walkway to see the concerned looks of the others, not to mention taking a quick glance at some of the viewing boxes, Rock Lee added, "Although if I were a betting man, I'd say that an actual 'no killing' rule might be added soon."

"I'd take that bet as well, Lee," Neji remarked as he took a quick glance at the Konoha viewing box; the members of the Hyuga clan that were in the Konoha viewing box were gone, having left to go to Konoha General to be there for Hinata.

As the students of Team Gai talked, Naruto and the students of Team Asuma came walking out of the hallway and met up with the other chunnin. "I'm ready when you are," Naruto said to Tenten before turning to walk down to the arena floor.

"Don't worry, Neji," Tenten said in a confident tone as she patted the Hyuga prodigy on the shoulder, "After I beat Naruto, I'll go on to beat Kiba too, thereby avenging your cousin." Walking down the stairs to get to the arena floor, Tenten saw Naruto already waiting in place for their match to start. As Tenten walked over to stand in front of him to wait for their match to begin, Naruto's gaze shifted around the arena quickly until it fell upon the sight of something on the arena floor that should have been cleaned up before this match started; blood.

Hinata's blood.

" _You can totally get away with killing Tenten right now_ , _seeing as how killing won_ ' _t result in disqualification_ ," Kurama said to Naruto from within the realm of the seal, " _I_ ' _m just saying_."

A second after Tenten took her place in front of Naruto, Shizune raised her hand and announced, "This round two match will be between Naruto Uzumaki, who had won a previous match in round two, and Tenten. Now then…BEGIN!"

Leaping back to get some distance from Naruto, Tenten pulled out two kunai from weapons pouches on the back of her belt. "With this fearsome technique," Tenten began, "I shall-"

Tenten never got to finish what she was saying as Naruto, with incredible speed, rushed forward and slugged Tenten so hard in the stomach that he actually hoisted her off the floor. The sudden shock of the impact made Tenten lose the grip on the handles of her kunai, letting them clatter to the floor. Lowering Tenten back down onto her feet, Naruto jerked his fist out of her stomach, allowing her to fall over onto the arena floor. The weapons master was very clearly knocked out, and very clearly still alive.

" _How many times do I have to say it_ , _Kurama_?" Naruto thought inwardly to the realm of the seal, his tone sad and somewhat lame, " _I_ ' _m not going to kill Tenten_."

Running up quickly, Shizune quickly checked Tenten, sighed in relief that the girl was simply fainted, then raised her right hand. "Tenten has been knocked out!" Shizune announced, "The winner is Naruto Uzumaki!"

Everyone was shocked by how quickly the match ended. Over in the Suna viewing box, Kankuro said nervously, "Uhh…heh, I guess I was wise to put my money on Naruto, huh?"

"He beat that girl faster than I did back when I fought her during the Chunnin exams," Temari remarked, her face paling in shock and mild fear.

"…Naruto…" Gaara muttered quietly to himself, his tone purely concern.

* * *

Kurenai and Shino walked up to one of the houses in the Inuzuka clan compound later that evening. Kurenai had beforehand hired Sophia Fisher to babysit Mirai for her; Kurenai did not want to bring her child along for this. There was no need to expose a child who wasn't even two years old yet to the talk that was about to go down. Kurenai also did not want to risk having her child see her break down in tears.

Reaching the front door, Kurenai knocked on it quickly a few times before lowering her arm and waiting with Shino for someone to answer. Kiba's older sister Hana had answered the door. "Oh, miss Kurenai, Shino," Hana greeted in a tone that was a mix of friendly, worried and confused, "This is certainly a surprise." The worry in her tone growing a bit, Hana asked, "Did something happen to Kiba?"

"If by 'something' you mean Kiba losing his mind and going berserk, then yes," Shino replied, his tone equal parts disappointed and grim, "I suppose you've heard that Kiba won his match in the Chunnin Tournament today, yes?"

Alarm growing due to what Shino said about Kiba going berserk, Hana said, "What happened? What did Kiba do?"

"Kiba tried to kill Hinata in their match," Shino said bitterly, "THAT'S what he did."

"H-his own teammate?" Hana said in a quiet tone of shock, covering her mouth with her hand.

Her eyes lowering their gaze to the ground, Kurenai said, "Yes. Kiba was paired up to fight Hinata in the second round of the Chunnin Tournament." Shaking her head softly before she went on, Kurenai continued, "I have no idea why Kiba would do this. Kiba, he…sure he was a little rough back when he, Shino and Hinata were first assigned to me, but he was still such a sweet kid all around." Unable to hold back her tears any longer, Kurenai started to sob softly. "What happened to him?" Kurenai said as she looked down at the ground, "What could have taken a kid like Kiba and turn him into…into what he's become?"

"…I don't suppose you two know about what's been happening with the Inuzuka clan as of late, do you?" Hana asked as she invited Kurenai and Shino inside for some tea, "I think what I have to share may help you help Kiba."

TO BE CONTINUED…

END, BEFORE THE REDEMPTION CHAPTER THREE

Author's Notes:

(1) She needed an excuse to talk to the guy deciding the round two match-ups, so Pirate figured what better way to strike up a conversation than by sitting down next to him under the pretense of being just a random customer?

(2) Pirate has a habit of referring to everyone who is reasonably younger than her as 'kid', even if the age difference isn't really all that great.

(3) This will actually come up in a future chapter.

(4) I've always liked Choji as a character. He's got a good heart, that guy.

(5) She's right, you know.

Of all of the scenes I have ever written, one of my favorites has got to be the very beginning of this chapter, where Pirate plays the part of a friendly person coming into Ichiraku Ramen to dine in order to build up a rapport with the Konoha Shinobi deciding the round two match-ups. Well anywho, the next chapter will be taking a break from the Chunnin Tournament in order to build up some background for Kiba.

Also, in case it wasn't all that clear; yes, Hinata was trying to surrender. No, Kiba did not realize this, he legitimately thought that Hinata was trying to initiate a jitsu of some kind.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any properties in this work that I did not make myself.

Before the redemption

Chapter four: Memories of the doghouse

(KONOHAGAKURE, OVER TEN YEARS AGO, WINTER)

The three bullies (1) were not having a very good day. First, they figured that they could mess with that freaky Hyuga girl like they did the previous day. There was a chance that blonde loser may try to stop them; oh well, for fun for the bullies. Anywho, as they had expected, the three bullies found the freaky Hyuga girl, and also as they had expected, that blonde loser stepped in to try to stop them.

…What the three bullies _hadn_ ' _t_ expected what that, unlike the previous day, the blonde loser actually had two friends with him this time as back up; some lazy black-haired kid and some fat brown-haired kid. The three boys managed to chase off the three bullies, as bullies do not like even odds. Why _else_ would a trio of bullies decide to pick on a girl who was all alone?

With the fun that they were going to have messing with that freaky Hyuga girl spoiled, along with some bruises on all three bullies and a slight scrape on the left knee of one of the bullies, the three bullies were in a foul mood. As they fumed, they came across a lone girl; she had pink hair, green eyes, and looked somewhat insecure. The three bullies thought that they had found a new victim in this pink-haired girl, but right as they started messing with her, some raven-haired boy with the Uchiha clan crest on the back of his jacket came in, beat them all up, and chased them all off. (2)

With further bruising, the three bullies were in an even fouler mood than before. "Aww man," said the first bully in a tone of complaint; this one wore a jacket that was roughly orange in color. "How come other kids won't let us have our fun?" the first bully went on, "We were only playing around with those girls!"

"I know, man," said the second bully, who wore a green jacket, "The other kids really need to learn how to lighten up. We weren't doing any sort of harm!"

"Maybe one of us should act as a sort of look out," suggested the third bully, who wore a yellow jacket and a green beanie. Breathing in some winter air, the third bully exhaled his breath, breathing out a cloud of smoke like a dragon breathing fire. "Man, it sure is cold," the third bully remarked casually, "I'd hate to be a poor kid in winter! Any jackets they have would probably be threadbare!"

"That's assuming they even _have_ a jacket," the first bully remarked, making his two companions laugh cruelly at the expense of poor kids everywhere. As the three bullies continued to walk, they saw a lone kid approaching from the opposite direction. It was a boy, with scruffy brown hair and red, triangle-shaped marking on his face, one on each side. The kid wore a baggy and threadbare light-gray hoodie, baggy cargo shorts with large pockets on the sides of the legs, and a pair of shinobi sandals. The three bullies could just tell by looking at this boy that he was one of the previously mentioned poor kids that they were raging on.

"You're in my way, assholes," the poor kid snarled in an annoyed tone, his brow furrowing somewhat; this poor kid looked and sounded far more aggressive than the last two alone kids that the trio of bullies had come across. "I'm serious," the poor kid continued as his mood began to sour, "Move it or lose it."

"Oh?" the third bully said in an amused tone, "And what will you do if we don't?" The taunting that their companion was throwing at this poor kid made the first two bullies chuckle. The poor kid didn't say anything; he only arched an eyebrow.

…

A few minutes later, the three bullies were laying on the ground, all of them having been thoroughly beaten by the poor kid. The three bullies could tell from how badly they were beaten that, even if they were in perfect condition before the poor kid handed all of their butts to them on silver platters, the poor kid _still_ would have handed all of their butts to them on silver platters anyway. The poor kid must have been from a shinobi family or something; maybe he was even from a shinobi _clan_.

To further rub in the humiliation of the three bullies, the poor kid, after he had beaten all of them, decided to check all of their pockets, taking all of the combined money the three bullies had; the poor kid also took the second bully's special decoder ring. Standing over his beaten opponents, the poor kid looked at his right hand, in which he held all of the money he took. The three bullies had a combined 1024 ryo on hand between the three of them.

" _This is barely enough to get a halfway decent meal for a family of three_ ," the poor kid thought bitterly as he shoved his gains into the front right pocket of his baggy cargo shorts. Looking down at his beaten opponents, the poor kid snarled, "You all had better not screw with me again. You got that, assholes?!"

"Do you know how many box tops I had to save up and mail in to get that decoder ring?" the second bully said lamely as he seemed to be on the verge of crying.

"Enough to save me the trouble of doing it myself, that's for sure!" the poor kid laughed as he turned to walk away. Although the mood of the three bullies had gone from an all-time low in terms of being foul to an all-time low in terms of being sad, the poor kid never felt better in his life. Thanks to some of the Taijitsu he picked up from watching his older sister practice, the poor kid was able to beat the snot out of three regular citizen children; those three clearly weren't from shinobi families, that's for sure!

Besides, the poor kid was never in any real danger anyway; he could have very easily scared the three kids he just beat up by pulling out the kunai he had swiped from his older sister's ninja weapons pouch when she left it laying on her dresser. The mere sight of a ninja weapon would have scared any kid from a regular citizen family into doing whatever the poor kid demanded of them. Luckily for the poor kid, he had no need to go that far; halfway decent Taijitsu was enough to earn him a little over one-thousand ryo, along with a nifty decoder ring.

…

Naruto Uzumaki was in a very good mood. Thanks to some help from two boys, Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi, that he had befriended, Naruto was able to teach those three bullies a lesson they will never forget! Now they'll leave this shy and kind-of weird but ultimately very kind girl alone. "Hey, are you okay?" the young blonde boy asked the shy girl that he, Shikamaru and Choji stood up against some bullies for.

"I'm fine, thank you," the shy girl replied, "Thank you again for making those mean boys stop."

"Well hey, what they were doing wasn't right," Choji remarked as he pulled out a snack-sized bag of chips and opened it.

"We should let some adults know about those jerks," Shikamaru suggested, "And not the kind of adults who will just brush what we tell them off as 'kids being kids', but I mean _actual_ adults who will _actually_ do something about those bullies and get _actual_ results."

"Maybe we should tell your mother that those bullies were picking on you," Choji suggested to Shikamaru, "That'll get results."

"No, that will get those bullies killed," Shikamaru replied, "We want them to behave themselves from here on out, not get put six feet under." (3)

"Y-your mother really w-wouldn't kill someone, would s-s-she?" the shy girl asked Shikamaru in a stammer, clearly looking scared.

"Nah, Shikamaru's mom really isn't that scary," Choji remarked in Shikamaru's place, "It's just a joke."

"That's what you think," Shikamaru muttered to himself dryly.

"Well anywho, we chased those bullies off and taught them the lesson they needed!" Naruto said, "This calls for a party! Who's with me?"

"That does s-sound like a n-nice idea," the shy girl stammered mildly, "I've always wanted to EEEEEP!" The shy girl stopped midsentence and ran quickly to hind behind a nearby tree. Naruto, Shikamaru and Choji all looked around, expecting those three bullies to be coming back for revenge. But Naruto and his friends didn't see the three bullies.

They just saw a lone kid walking by.

Judging by his baggy and threadbare hoodie, the lone kid was from a financially struggling family. Naruto, Shikamaru and Choji all noticed that the lone kid was scowling somewhat, and that made the three boys want to give the lone kid as much of a wide berth. A few seconds after the lone kid had walked clear past Naruto and his friends, the shy girl peeked out from behind the tree that she was using for her cover.

"Is…is he gone?" the shy girl asked, clearly rattled.

"Yeah, he's gone," Naruto replied as he turned to face the shy girl, "Why do you ask? Has he been picking on you as well?"

Shaking her head gently in the negative, the shy girl said, "Oh no, in fact I've never even met that boy."

"Then why are you scared of him?" Shikamaru asked.

Looking down at the ground, the shy girl explained, "Those red markings on his face…that boy belongs to the Inuzuka clan. The elders of my clan tell me that the Inuzuka clan aren't all that fond of our clan, and as such the elders tell me that I should keep my distance from the Inuzuka clan. My clan's elders wouldn't go into detail, though."

"Oh!" Choji exclaimed as he wore an expression of realization, "Now I recognize that kid!"

Turning to face his best friend, Shikamaru said, "You've seen him before, Choji?"

Nodding in the affirmative, Choji said, "I saw that kid, his older sister, their mom and their mom's dog one time when I was helping my grandaunt with a yard sale she was running. While the boy's mom spent five or so minutes trying to haggle down the price of an electronic singing fish that she wanted to buy from my grandaunt's yard sale, I got to talk to the boy. He told me that his name was Kiba."

"Kiba, huh?" Naruto remarked, giving the notion of the Inuzuka boy some thought. After a few minutes, Naruto shook his head somewhat briskly. "Nah, forget him," Naruto said, "He seems like the kind of guy who would pick on others given half a chance." Turning to face the shy girl, Naruto said, "If that Kiba kid ever gives you any trouble, let me know, alright? I'll knock his block of for you."

Normally, the shy girl would be hesitant to accept such a promise, as she was not fond of violence. But the shy girl, her views on the Inuzuka clan heavily painted by the elders of her clan, would accept any offer if it meant that any and all Inuzuka clan members were kept as far away from her as possible. "J-just be careful, o-okay?" the shy girl stammered, "I'd hate f-for you to g-get hurt."

Grinning confidently, Naruto jerked a thumb at his chest as he said, "Are you kidding? You're talking to the future Hokage here! There's no way I'd lose to a punk like that Kiba kid!" Shikamaru and Choji both laughed at Naruto's boast, but it was laughter of a good-natured variety that showed that they weren't mocking their friend's dreams. The shy girl, for her part, just smiled kindly.

* * *

(A SHORT WHILE LATER, LEAF VILLAGE NINJA ACADEMY)

It was sometime during recess one day over at the Leaf Village Ninja Academy when Kiba Inuzuka was walking through one of the hallways. Kiba wasn't alone in his walking, either; walking alongside the young Inuzuka boy was a Ninkin puppy, Akamaru, that Kiba had recently gotten. After some scolding from his mother about playing with Akamaru too much, Kiba put some effort into training. Akamaru had gotten the hang of some basic Ninkin skills, along with mastering the art of not going to the bathroom inside of the house, so Kiba's mom got off his back, even encouraging Kiba to take a bit of a break.

But this is getting off subject. The reason _why_ Kiba and his dog were not outside playing with the rest of the kids was because Kiba was just not feeling up to it. For reasons that escape Kiba, he could no longer get free lunch at the Leaf Village Ninja Academy; this had started on Monday the previous week, and now it was Thursday of this week.

" _I thought that Ma took care of the thing that let me eat here_ ," Kiba thought as he and his dog walked through the hallway, " _Do I no longer qualify_ , _or something_?" It was then that Kiba walked by the door leading into his classroom. Stopping on the side of the hallway opposite of his classroom's door, Kiba had a desperate thought.

"… _Everyone is outside_ , _Iruka_ - _sensei included_ ," Kiba thought as he considered a plan of action, " _And I_ did _teach Akamaru how to act as a look_ - _out_."

Kiba snuck into the empty classroom. A quick glance at the windows showed that all of the blinds were closed; this meant that there was no chance that someone would randomly look through one of the classroom windows and see what Kiba was up to. " _Good_ , _I won_ ' _t get caught_ ," Kiba thought as he stepped foot into the empty classroom. Turning to regard his Ninkin puppy, Kiba said, "If you hear anyone approach, let me know, alright?"

Nodding in the affirmative, Akamaru gave an affirmative-sounding hum. With his loyal Ninkin puppy understanding his instructions, Kiba began looking around. He figured that at least one of the unguarded backpacks in the classroom had to have at least _one_ snack that he could swipe; the thought of having to steal from one of his classmates made Kiba slightly disgusted with himself, not to mention set a mild degree of fear into his heart that he'd be caught.

But desperate situations made for desperate kids.

The first backpack that Kiba came across was a mostly cream-colored backpack, with a lavender-colored flap over the top and lavender-colored side pockets. The insignia of a ninja clan was affixed directly onto the center of the top flap of the backpack. " _Hey_ , _this is the Hyuga clan insignia_ ," Kiba thought as he found the backpack, " _Aunt Pirate says that the Hyuga clan has taken a lot from the Inuzuka clan_ , _and that_ ' _s why we_ ' _re suffering_." Opening the backpack, Kiba thought, " _Maybe I should take something from them_ , _just to even the score a little WOAH_!"

Kiba was surprised by what he had found when he opened the top flap of the Hyuga backpack; there were a number of individually wrapped melon breads, along with some individually wrapped jumbo cinnamon rolls. There was also a one-liter bottle of Root Beer. Checking the Hyuga backpack further, Kiba found a wallet; opening the wallet, Kiba found 2200 ryo.

" _This is more than double what I got from beating up those three assholes last year during Winter_ ," the Inuzuka boy thought in amazement. Acting quickly, Kiba took the 2200 ryo, shoved it into his right front pocket, then placed the wallet back into the backpack. Bringing his own backpack over, Kiba then removed all of the snacks and the bottle of soda, placing the entire spread into his own backpack.

Figuring that he had scored well enough, Kiba decided to not push his luck. With his backpack slung over his right shoulder, Kiba picked up Akamaru and exited the classroom; to Kiba's great relief, there weren't any other people in the academy building. The Inuzuka boy found a good place to be alone, where no one could possibly run into him by chance; there, Kiba sat Akamaru back down on the ground, sat on the ground himself as he took off his backpack, and unzipped it. As he removed one of the melon breads that he swiped, Kiba said to Akamaru, "You ready to eat, Akamaru?"

…

Later that day, Kiba and Akamaru were walking through another hallway of the Leaf Village Ninja Academy. Kiba had eaten all of the snacks that he swiped, while occasionally tearing of a chunk or two for Akamaru until the Ninkin puppy indicated that he was satisfied (i.e. full). Kiba had also consumed all of the Root Beer. Additionally, with the money he had obtained, Kiba, his older sister and their mom would actually be able to get some dinner tonight.

Kiba would tell them that he got the money by winning some bets at the academy today; although Hana would not approve of the idea of her little brother gambling while at school, she would believe the story. As for Kiba and Hana's mom, not only would she believe the story, but show great approval as well; Tsume Inuzuka had somewhat lower morals than her daughter. (4) Plus, money meant food, so who was Tsume to complain?

As Kiba and Akamaru walked by a classroom, they heard the familiar voice of the daughter of one of Kiba's mom's friends saying, "What do you have to say for yourself, Choji?"

" _Hey_ , _that's the daughter of Ma_ ' _s friend Mr_. _Yamanaka_ ," Kiba thought as, out of curiosity, he walked over and peered through a crack in the doorway. He saw the aforementioned daughter of Mr. Yamanaka, along with the niece of Kiba's mom's friend Mr. Fisher, confront that fat kid, that lazy kid, and that blonde kid that was in their class. Iruka-sensei was standing as a neutral party in the confrontation. " _Hey_ , _those three boys look kind of familiar to me_ ," Kiba thought as he continued to watch and listen in private.

"For the last time Ino, Choji didn't steal anything," the lazy kid said to Mr. Yamanaka's daughter in an annoyed tone, "What the heck makes you think that it was him anyway?"

"Because it was a bunch of snacks that was stolen," the niece of Mr. Fisher said.

"What kind of snacks were even stolen, Sakura-chan?" the blonde boy said to Mr. Fisher's niece.

"Some melon breads and a few big cinnamon rolls," Mr. Fisher's niece, identified as Sakura, replied, "Plus a bottle of Root Beer. Also, all of her money was stolen as well."

"One, Choji is a chip guy, not a sweets guy," the lazy boy began as he listed off things on his fingers, "Two, he likes Cola, not Root Beer. Three, why in the heck would he steal any money?"

"Because he's a jerk, Shikamaru," Mr. Yamanaka's daughter, identified as Ino, remarked angrily to the lazy boy, "Jerks always do mean things."

Sighing, Iruka said, "Girls, as nice as it is that you're looking out for a friend, there's no way Choji could have stolen anything. He was helping me all day with carrying some boxes between the faculty office and the storage room on the top floor of the academy. Naruto and Shikamaru were also helping me all day, so neither of them could have been the thief, either."

"What I would like to know is what she was doing with all of those snacks in the first place," the lazy boy, identified as Shikamaru, remarked.

Sighing, Ino said, "As much as this baffles me, she was intending to share it all with Naruto during lunch."

A confused look on his face, the blonde boy, who had to be Naruto by process of elimination, remarked, "Me? Why would she want to share those snacks with me? No one had ever wanted to do something like that for me before."

"She's really thankful for all of the times you stood up for her," Sakura replied, "As much as this annoys me to admit, you're actually a rather decent person, Naruto."

"Now Sakura, what have I told you about not being so dismissive of your other classmates?" Iruka said in a tone of mild scolding.

As Sakura was about to object, a random voice said through one of the classroom windows, "Hey, I have an idea about who the thieves might be."

Iruka and the students all turned to face the direction the voice called out from, and as such they saw Sasuke Uchiha looking through an open window. Seeing the object of their affection talking to them, Sakura and Ino were immediately drawn to the Uchiha boy. "You know who the thief is, Sasuke-kun?" Ino said in a smitten tone.

"Wait, I think he actually said thieves," Shikamaru remarked.

Nodding in the affirmative, Sasuke said, "You all know those three boys? You know, the ones who like to find girls who are alone and pick on them. I think they're the thieves, or at the very least have something to do with this whole mess."

Sighing in a resigned tone, Iruka said, "As much as I hate to admit it, I know those three boys, and a stunt like this seems to be right up their ally. I'll have to talk to their respective parents about this. In the meanwhile, school is out for the day, so your respective parents should be coming by to pick you all up. You all should go outside the front of the academy and wait for them."

At that moment, Kiba got up from crouching down at the door and backed up a few steps, not wanting to be caught having eavesdropped on the talk inside. Thanks to Uchiha putting the blame on a trio of bullies that anyone would suspect of anything, Kiba would end up getting away with having stolen from one of his classmates. Additionally, Kiba now had a trio of fall guys to pin blame on.

Kiba and Akamaru were already gone by the time Iruka opened the classroom door and led the three boys and two girls out of the classroom.

* * *

(SEVERAL WEEKS LATER)

Kiba Inuzuka sat on a bench outside of the principal's office, with Akamaru sitting on the floor at his feet. On the end of the bench opposite of where Kiba sat was Sasuke Uchiha; during recess, Kiba and Sasuke got into a fight. The fight was ultimately broken up by Iruka-sensei, and both boys had gotten into trouble. But before Iruka-sensei came by, Kiba actually had the upper hand; halfway through the fight, Akamaru came running up and started nipping at Sasuke's outer ankles rather hard, distracting Sasuke and thus giving the Inuzuka boy an opening to tackle the Uchiha boy to the ground to give his face a good few hits.

"…Your dog sucks," Sasuke muttered to the Inuzuka boy.

"Your big sister sucks," Kiba spat back.

"Itachi-niisan is a boy," Sasuke growled.

"Not with hair like that, she ain't," Kiba taunted, with Akamaru giving a few yips in a tone that showed that whatever his owner had just said, he agreed with it wholeheartedly.

"You want me to break your nose some more?" Sasuke threatened.

"You want Akamaru should have some ankle soup for dinner?" Kiba threatened back.

"Children, please," a voice familiar to Kiba called out; looking up, Kiba saw Gaku Inuzuka, a member of the clan that Kiba and his family belonged to, come walking up. "Hey, mister Gaku!" Kiba greeted as he got up off of the bench, running over to the man that Kiba saw as a father of sorts. Gaku wasn't actually Kiba's dad, but for all Kiba cared, Gaku might as well be. Gaku does work with Kiba's mom, Kiba's aunt and most of the other women in the Inuzuka clan, after all.

"Little man, what the hell am I going to tell your ma?" Gaku asked in a stern yet sympathetically concerned tone, "Getting into fights at school. I mean, seriously!"

"Hey, Uchiha started it by saying I smell funny," Kiba said in an accusing tone as he pointed to Sasuke.

"Well maybe if you bathed or showered more, you wouldn't smell so funny," Sasuke remarked dryly.

"I'll have you know that I shower every day, Uchiha!" Kiba snapped.

"Then do it twice a day, because you still smell funny," Sasuke replied.

"My clan and I work with Ninkin regularly, asshole!" Kiba snapped, "Smelling funny comes with the territory!"

"He does have a point, young man," Gaku remarked to Sasuke, "Working with animals gets messy from time to time."

"Hmph, whatever," Sasuke remarked as he turned his head to face away from the Inuzuka clan members; Kiba, for his part, stuck his tongue out at the Uchiha boy.

…

As Gaku led Kiba and Akamaru back to the Inuzuka clan compound, they were met up by Kiba's Aunt Pirate. "I heard that my nephew here got into some trouble at school today," Pirate remarked to Gaku, "Is that true?"

"Either he picked a fight with Fugaku's son, or Fugaku's son picked a fight with him," Gaku replied, "I didn't get really clear details on what went down."

"Really?" Pirate remarked, sounding mildly impressed, "He got into a scuffle with an Uchiha?"

"Akamaru and I almost had that Sasuke turd beat, but then Iruka-sensei came in and broke things up," Kiba stated.

"Ha!" Pirate laughed, "Kiba, your ma will probably praise you for screwing with an Uchiha when she and Kuromaru gets back! Hell, I myself would have given you bonus points if it was a Hyuga that you screwed with, but I guess you can't get everything."

Sighing in a mildly annoyed, knowing tone, Gaku said, "Pirate, how many times do I have to tell you and most of the other women of our clan? The Hyuga are good people."

"It's their fault the free lunch program, along with a few other things, got cut over at the Leaf Village Ninja Academy, you know," Pirate remarked, "They pull the funding that they were providing the academy, and before you know it, Kiba goes without lunch!"

"I'm sure they have their reasons," Gaku said firmly, "So just stop it with blaming the Hyuga clan for all of our clan's problems, alright?"

Shrugging, Pirate said, "You're sounding just like that sister of mine, Gaku. When will you wake up and smell the coffee?" Turning around, Pirate continued, "Well anywho, I've got places to go, people to see. I'll see you and the rest of the clan when I get back." Leaping up into the air, Pirate jumped from rooftop to rooftop until she was out of sight. When Pirate was gone, Kiba turned to look up at Gaku.

"Is what Aunt Pirate saying about the Hyuga clan true, mister Gaku?" Kiba asked, a look of concern on his face.

"Your aunt is just upset that the Inuzuka clan owes the Hyuga clan a lot, and that it's caused some mild degree of strain for us," Gaku replied with a kind and gentle face. Kneeling down so that he was eyelevel with Kiba, Gaku continued, "Although you should normally listen to what your aunt tells you, you can go ahead and disregard what she says about the Hyuga clan. The Hyuga are actually good people, Kiba. You can take my word for it."

"Well of course I'll take your word for it, mister Gaku," Kiba replied, "Because it's your word."

"Ah ha! Your ma was right when she says you're a good kid, Kiba," Gaku laughed as he patted Kiba on the shoulder. Feeling that he wasn't being given his share of attention, Akamaru trotted up to the kneeling Gaku and tried to jump up to lick his face. Chuckling a bit more, Gaku reached down and ruffled the top of the Inuzuka Ninkin puppy's head, drawing some happy yipping and tail-wagging out of Akamaru as a result.

* * *

The next day at the Leaf Village Ninja Academy, Kiba and Akamaru were walking through one of the hallways when they were approached by Naruto, Shikamaru and Choji. "Hey, we heard that you actually beat Sasuke in a fight," Choji said to the Inuzuka boy, "Is that true?"

"You mean that turd who mocked me for working with dogs? Hells yeah Akamaru and I kicked his ass," Kiba replied confidently. Akamaru yipped a few times in a tone that seemingly agreed with what his owner was saying, wagging his tail the whole while.

"Wow, that's pretty neat," Shikamaru said in an impressed-sounding tone, "Your name's Kiba, right?"

"Yeah," the Inuzuka boy replied, "Why do you ask?"

"The boys and I were wondering if you'd be interested in hanging with us," Choji explained, "I brought some snacks, so we were all going to have a little bit of fun."

"Wait, are you guys sure bringing Kiba is a good idea?" Naruto asked in a mildly concerned tone, "I mean, Hinata's afraid of him, remember?"

"True, she's afraid of him," Shikamaru replied, "But she's more afraid of Sasuke, who Kiba beat up. All we have to do is inform her about what Kiba did, and I bet she'll ease up around the guy. Plus, girls are suckers for cute furry animals like Kiba's dog." Akamaru gave a yip in response to hearing his name mentioned.

* * *

When Kiba got home from the academy that day, he was surprised to see his Aunt Pirate sitting on the sofa with his mom Tsume. Kuromaru, who is Tsume's loyal Ninkin, was laying on the floor at Tsume's feet. "Yo Kiba!" Tsume greeted in a happy tone, "Pirate tells me you beat one of those Uchiha turds in a fight yesterday! Way to go, son! Mama's proud!"

"Tsume, shouldn't you be discouraging your son from picking fights at school?" Kuromaru asked.

"Ehh, if it's someone other than Uchiha," Tsume replied with a shrug, "But if Kiba knocks Uchiha's block off, then who am I to scold him?" Turning her attention back to her son, Tsume continued, "But anywho, how was your day at school, Kiba?"

"I made some new friends," Kiba replied, "A blonde kid, a black-haired kid, and a fat kid. This Hyuga girl was also hanging with them, but I don't think I can count her yet because she seemed kind of scared of me, but she did relax a bit when the blonde kid mentioned I beat Sasuke."

"Uhh, yeah sweetie," Pirate began, "If I were you, I'd leave that Hyuga girl off your friends list. It's not worth it to associate with her kind."

"Forget what your aunt says, son," Tsume said, "Making friends with that Hyuga girl might actually be a good thing. Be as un-scary towards her as possible, alright?"

"…Mister Gaku already told me something similar about the Hyuga, and I told him that I'd take his word for it," Kiba remarked after a few seconds of considering what his mom and aunt were telling him.

"HA! In yo face!" Tsume exclaimed, pointing dramatically in her younger twin sister's face.

"…Whatever," Pirate replied in a huff, turning away from facing her sister.

* * *

(A FEW YEARS LATER)

Pirate Inuzuka was walking through a hallway in the Hokage office building. Pirate's nephew Kiba had recently graduated from the Leaf Village Ninja Academy, and was now an official shinobi of Konohagakure, albeit only a genin. As Kiba is one of the (very) few male shinobi left in the Inuzuka clan, Pirate was looking onto asking a few favors of the Third Hokage, mostly to ensure Kiba's safety. Tsume had already done the same, and had come back saying that Kiba's status of being a male Inuzuka shinobi, which is extremely rare, had earned him some degree of consideration from the office of the Hokage. However, Pirate figured that if a sweet, loving and concerned aunt did a little bit of vouching for her nephew, the wheels might get a little bit more grease.

As she walked by a door that was open just a crack, Pirate heard the voice of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the third Hokage, speak up from within the room. "Might I ask what the purpose of these recommendations are, Homura?" Hiruzen asked as he was apparently speaking to Homura Mitokado, one of his advisors. Just a bit curious, Pirate hid on the one side of the door against the wall, so that she could carefully listen in.

Inside of the room, Hiruzen was talking to his two advisors, the aforementioned Homura and Koharu Utatane. There was a chart on the wall upon which the names of the group of genin that have been come to known as the 'rookie nine' were written.

"As I am certain you can guess, the elders of the Hyuga clan are quite interested in the layouts of the new genin teams," Homura explained, "I don't think I have to tell you _why_ the Hyuga clan elders have taken such an interest."

"The daughter of their clan's leader is one of the aforementioned genin, I know," Hiruzen remarked with a nod of understanding, "But this does not answer my question, Homura. Why do you and Koharu both have issue with the team layouts I've planned out?"

"You have Uzumaki, Uchiha and Haruno on one team," Koharu began, "Hyuga, Aburame and Inuzuka on another team, and the traditional team of Yamanaka, Nara and Akimichi on the third and final team." From where she hid outside of the door, Pirate had to resist the urge to hiss in a tone of disgust; her precious little nephew was going to be forced to be all buddy-buddy with one of those bastards from the Hyuga? This had to be a joke.

Back in the meeting room, the Hokage continued the talk with his advisors. "Now normally," Koharu continued, "No one would have any issue with these team layouts. In fact, I myself like the idea of putting Uzumaki and Uchiha on the same team, as when Uchiha eventually unlocks his Sharingan, it will be of great use in keeping the Kyubi in check."

Taking out a vanilla-colored folder, Koharu laid it on the table surface in front of her, opened it, and pulled out a sheet of paper. "When the Hyuga clan elders had asked for the layouts ahead of time, I told them what you had planned," Koharu said, "They were nothing short of outraged that you were even considering putting their clan leader's daughter on the same team as Inuzuka, and as such they want things changed."

"Keep in mind, Hiruzen, that the Hyuga clan's Byakugan is an invaluable asset to Konoha, so keeping the Hyuga clan happy is in our best interest," Homura pointed out.

"There is no doubt about the significance of the Hyuga clan to Konoha's strength," Hiruzen replied as he leaned back in his chair and sighed somewhat, "But the main reason I have issue with your recommendations is that it puts the children of Yamanaka, Nara and Akimichi all on different teams. You know as well as I do that those three clans always work together."

"That is true, Hiruzen," Koharu remarked in a tone of acknowledgement, "But we cannot abide by the Hyuga clan's request _and_ make all of the new genin teams as balanced as possible without putting Yamanaka, Nara and Akimichi all on different teams. Besides, this is a great chance to see what would happen if a new generation of Yamanaka, Nara and Akimichi were all put onto different teams. You yourself had admitted that you wanted to see what it would be like."

Sighing, Hiruzen said, "Very well, you got me there, Koharu. What are the recommendations you made again, Homura?"

"I suggest that we put Uzumaki, Akimichi and Hyuga on one team," Homura began, "Uchiha, Aburame and Nara on another team, and Yamanaka, Haruno and Inuzuka on the third and final team."

"…" Regarding Homura with a curious look, Hiruzen said, "You want to put Harold's niece, Inoichi's daughter and Tsume's son all on the same team?"

"The trio of Fisher, Yamanaka and Inuzuka has, despite all logic, gotten very good results," Homura remarked, "Inoichi is just as effective with Harold and Tsume as he is with Choza and Shikaku, if not more so."

"We figure that if we can get a new generation of those three and have their impressionable minds molded by a responsible authority figure like your son Asuma," Koharu added, "Then we'll not only have another Fisher-Yamanaka-Inuzuka trio, but one who is more effective, more intelligent, less reckless, and less prone to drinking heavily than their predecessors."

"Ah yes, Asuma is available to serve as a jonin instructor," Hiruzen remarked. Chuckling to himself, Hiruzen remarked in an amused tone, "Although I _do_ feel kind of guilty about the idea of forcing my son to put up with two preteen girls. Can't we give Asuma the trio of Uchiha, Aburame and Nara instead and let Kurenai deal with Yamanaka, Haruno and Inuzuka?"

"We believe that Kurenai is best to handle the team of Uzumaki, Akimichi and Hyuga," Koharu remarked, "Particularly when it comes to Hyuga. A kind, motherly authority figure like Kurenai might be just the role-model a shy and insecure girl such as Hyuga needs to blossom."

"This will leave Uchiha, Aburame and Nara with Kakashi," Homura stated.

"Yes, yes, I see," Hiruzen remarked, "Very well. I shall consent to your recommendations for the team layouts for the new genin." Picking up his pipe, Hiruzen took a quick drag from it before saying, "Who wants to bet on how long it will take before Kakashi fails those boys?" (5) From where she hid outside of the door, Pirate could hear the Hokage's advisors give some hoots of amused laughter. A smile forming on her own lips, Pirate turned around and walked away, deciding on waiting to add her desires for additional consideration for her nephew later.

Lord Third had just done the ultimate in consideration for Kiba, after all.

…

That evening, the parents of most of the new genin were all at the bar (only Hiashi Hyuga and Shibi Aburame were missing), celebrating the achievement of their respective kids. All of the parents here were shinobi themselves, save for Kizashi Haruno. Although Kizashi's brother-in-law Harold, who is a ninja, decided to drag him along. "Come on, man," Harold said as he and Inoichi sat at a booth with Kizashi, "Why aren't you more excited? Little Cherry Bug is an official ninja now!"

"I bet he's probably worried that Sakura will be put on a team with some mean kids who will pick on her," Inoichi remarked, "Not to mention the fact that, as a ninja, Sakura will eventually be expected to do some rather dangerous things." Picking up a bottle of beer, the Yamanaka patriarch slid it over to his best friend's brother-in-law. "Don't worry, man," Inoichi said to Kizashi, "Sakura and her friends are only just genin, so the most they'll get to do is help some elderly citizens with chores or, oh I don't know, track down some rich woman's cat." (6)

"Oh, bonus points if the rich woman is fat," Harold said before taking a swig from his mug of Pape Konoha's Brand Lager. As Inoichi nodded in agreement, Harold turned to regard Kizashi. "But either way, Inoichi has a point, dude," Harold said, "Sakura's team won't be given anything even remotely dangerous until she's at the very least a chunnin. There's no need to sweat it."

Looking down at his beer in consideration, Kizashi said, "I hope you're right, Harold."

"I am most certainly right, my good brother-in-law," Harold replied, "And if I am wrong, then may Konoha get betrayed and attacked by one of its allies." (7)

As Harold, Inoichi and Kizashi talked, they were surprised to see Pirate enter the bar. "Yo, Tsume's sis!" Harold called out, "Over here, dude!" Seeing the closest friends of her twin sister, Pirate decided to walk over and sit down, sliding into the seat next to Kizashi.

"Hello, boys," Pirate remarked, "I don't suppose you all are in just as good of a mood as I am, are you?"

"Well my precious little princess is now an official ninja, so yeah, I'm in a good mood," Inoichi replied. Taking a swig from his mug, Inoichi asked, "Why are you in a good mood?"

"Well boys," Pirate replied slyly, "I may or may not have heard the team layouts for the newly graduated genin."

"Oh ho! Are you serious?" Harold said as he and Inoichi leaned in somewhat closer, "Well come on, dude, spill the beans!"

"Alright, but keep in mind that you didn't hear this from me," Pirate began. After Inoichi and Harold (along with Kizashi for some reason) nodded obediently, the Inuzuka woman continued, "This may strike you all as amusing, but Harold's niece and Inoichi's daughter are going to be on the same team, along with my nephew." Kizashi seemed okay with what was said; the looks of the two jonin, however, although not looking disappointed, were still confused.

"…Seriously?" Harold replied in a less excitable tone that what is normal for a man such as himself, "I mean, don't get me wrong, I like the idea of little Cherry Bug on the same team as Inoichi's daughter and Tsume's son. But shouldn't Inoichi's daughter be on the same team as Choza's son and Shikaku's son?"

"Yes, I agree," Inoichi remarked as he and his best friend turned to face each other, "As cool as it is to have Tsume's son, your niece and my precious little princess all together on the same team, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to stick to tradition and insist that Ino, Shikamaru and Choji all be on the same team."

"Well of course they're all going to be on the same team, dumbass," a gruff voice called out, getting Pirate and the men she was sitting with to look to the side and see Shikaku and Choza standing there. It had been Shikaku who had spoken. "What the hell makes you think that they won't be?" the Nara patriarch asked.

"Well there's rumor going around that Ino will be on a team with Sakura and Kiba instead of Shikamaru and Choji," Inoichi explained.

"No, no, a thousand times hell no!" Shikaku remarked immediately, "It's bad enough Konoha already has ONE trio of reckless idiots that sets more fear into people's hearts than Orochimaru! We don't need another!"

"As much as I'd like to punch you in the face for suggesting that my daughter is an idiot, we've got more important business to take care of!" Inoichi said as he stood up, "Come on, Shikaku and Choza! We've got generations of tradition between our three clans to protect! To the Hokage office building!" Inoichi then ran out of the bar, with Shikaku and Choza giving chase.

* * *

The following morning, as Kiba was telling Tsume, Hana and Pirate about how the team layouts went, Pirate thought, " _I should have kept my mouth shut_." Due to her indulging the truth at the bar the previous night, Inoichi, alongside his fellow Ino-Shika-Cho trio members, went right over to the Hokage office building to raise a big stink about Ino, Shikamaru and Choji not being on the same team together. Because to that, the Third Hokage's original ideas for team layouts had to be implemented.

"Now Kiba," Tsume began, "As you are now on a team, you have to treat your teammates with respect. Treat them as you would treat Akamaru."

"Does that mean I should take Shino for walks, and smack Hinata on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper if she pees on the carpet?" Kiba asked, a mildly confused look on his face.

Tsume instantly started laughing uproariously, smacking her knee (Tsume, Pirate and Hana were all seated at the dining table, Kiba was standing) as Kuromaru sounded like a machine gun that was firing rapidly due to how quickly and repeatedly he had to snort back laughter. Hana herself let out a good number of giggles. Even Pirate smirked, but that was only because she was imagining one of those Hyuga bastards being smacked in the nose with a rolled-up newspaper repeatedly.

"No, no, no," Tsume wheezed as she tried to breathe, "That's not what I was talking about, son." Sitting up straight, Tsume said as her laughter died down, "You know how your pals Shikamaru and Choji treat each other? Do that."

"Well Shino's pretty cool, what with the whole human bug hive thing he's got going on," Kiba replied, "But I'm going to have to ask Sakura and Ino for advice on how a guy can be friends with a girl if I'm to build some sort of friendship up with Hinata."

"It's a waste of time, kiddo," Pirate remarked dryly, "I wouldn't bother with that girl if I were you."

"Pirate, with all due respect, the girl is Kiba's teammate," Kuromaru remarked, "Not yours."

"And I'm happy for that!" Pirate said, "I'd rather kill myself than be forced to work with one of those bastard Hyuga!"

"Come on, Aunt Pirate," Kiba said, "Hinata isn't a bad person." A look of consideration on his face, Kiba held a hand over his chin as he added, "But if what I heard is true, then Hinata's got a right nasty cousin in the Hyuga clan's cadet branch. Neji, I think her name was?"

"Uhh, Kiba," Kuromaru began, "Tsume and I met Neji before. He's a boy."

"That hair and that face says Neji is a girl!" Kiba insisted, drawing more laughter from Tsume.

* * *

One of the first missions that Kurenai did with her new genin students was to go to the estate of a noble living in the Land of Fire to assist with the matter of investigating possible corruption in the town's local government. With Shino's bugs scouring every corner, Kiba and Akamaru's noses sniffing about for anything foul, and Hinata's eyes literally seeing through everything, the clues were found, the corrupt town politicians were found, and the mission was a success.

The noble, thankful to Kurenai and the genin for their assistance, insisted that they stay for dinner that night. And by dinner, the noble was talking about a grand feast to which all of the towns local upper crust was invited. About thirty minutes after everyone started eating, Kiba had to get up and go to a bathroom. To the concern of one of the upper crust members, she heard the sounds of vomiting coming from the bathroom a few seconds after Kiba went in.

"The food's been poisoned!" the upper crust woman exclaimed in fright, freaking everyone out. Kurenai had to shout over the panicking rich people (Hinata was also panicking) in order to be heard.

"None of the food was poisoned, everybody," Kurenai shouted, "I think Kiba just ate too much."

"Yes, Kurenai-sensei is correct," Shino added as the panicking began to die down, "All of the food is safe."

After everyone sat down, the dining continued, although the Land of Fire noble glared furiously at the upper crust woman who exclaimed that the food was poisoned. "Although something does concern me, Kurenai-sensei," Shino remarked as the conversations continued.

"What is it, Shino?" Kurenai asked, a mildly curious look on her face.

"I've eaten more than Kiba so far," Shino explained, "And yet I don't feel as if I have to throw up."

"Really," Kurenai remarked, a bit of concern in her tone.

"Also, judging by how much he was going at it, I'd say that Kiba has eaten very little in recent events, assuming he's eaten anything at all over that time," Shino remarked, "I think the reason why Kiba threw up, even though he ate less than me, is because he isn't used to eating that much." Turning his head somewhat to regard his jonin instructor better, Shino said with a hint of worry in his tone, "I think this warrants a bit of looking into."

"I think you're right," Kurenai remarked quietly, her gaze shifting down to her glass.

END, BEFORE THE REDEMPTION CHAPTER FOUR

Author's Notes:

(1) You know those three boys that were picking on Hinata in that flashback scene in 'The Last'? Yeah, them.

(2) …Yes, it was Sasuke.

(3) Even back then, Shikamaru was afraid of his mom.

(4) …Okay, much lower.

(5) Kakashi had a habit of doing this, remember?

(6) Gee, ya think?

(7) Harold and his friends should really stop saying things that more or less go 'And if I am wrong, then may (insert random event here)'. It will save everyone SO much trouble in the long run.

Well, here's a background story for Kiba to help explain why he's currently acting the way he is. Anyway, the next chapter will see the conclusion of the Chunnin Tournament, which will have only one match; Naruto versus Kiba (and Akamaru).


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any properties in this work that I did not make myself.

Before the redemption

Chapter five: The Chunnin Tournament part three- The dog, savage

Kurenai Yuhi and one of her three students, Shino Aburame, were over at the Inuzuka clan compound, the home of another of Kurenai's three students, Kiba Inuzuka. Earlier that day, the second round of the ongoing Chunnin Tournament was held, during which the aforementioned Kiba was pitted in a match against Kurenai's third and final student, Hinata Hyuga. During the match, Kiba, with the help of his Ninkin Akamaru, severely assaulted Hinata, culminating with Kiba using his nails, elongated by one of his techniques, to slit Hinata's throat.

What frightened Kurenai more was that, even after Hinata fell over onto the arena floor and laid prone, Kiba and Akamaru made an attempt at lunging at her, as if they wouldn't be satisfied with the match unless the Hyuga chunnin was dead by their hand (or in Akamaru's case, paw). Kurenai, with the help of Hinata's cousin Neji, had to leap in to stop Kiba and Akamaru from attempting to finish the job. (1)

However, that still didn't change the fact that Hinata's life was in serious danger. It was thanks to the quick acting of trained medical ninja on the scene, along with swift transport to Konoha General's ER where Lady Tsunade herself was personally overseeing the treatment, that Hinata was still alive, albeit in critical condition.

After Kurenai and Shino had finished telling Hana Inuzuka, the older sister of Kiba, about what went on during the match, the Inuzuka kunoichi, her tone and expression a healthy mix of shame and regret, told Kurenai and Shino about what had been going on recently in the Inuzuka clan, what with all of the recent deaths and various cuts to clan spending, culminating in telling them about the death of Kiba's father figure Gaku a few days back.

"…As much as I was hoping it wouldn't happen, Kiba has starting believing what Aunt Pirate and most of the Inuzuka clan's other women have been saying," Hana remarked as she finished up her tale, her tone lame and sad, "Kiba probably holds your Hyuga teammate and the rest of her clan accountable for Gaku's death."

"…Oh," Kurenai replied, looking down at her feet (Kurenai, Hana and Shino were all seated in the living room), "I mean, I had a vague idea about Inuzuka-Hyuga relations, but I never would have thought that things were so strained for you and your clansmen."

"You said that this has been going on for _how_ long?" Shino asked, clearly sounding worried.

"At least the past three generations," Hana replied in a sad tone, "But as I have said, things have been particularly bad in recent events. So far, in just this year alone, six human members of the Inuzuka clan, one of which being Gaku, has died." Scrunching up somewhat in a manner that clearly conveyed her sadness, Hana added, "The number of overall deaths that the Inuzuka clan has suffered so far this year is thirty. Hunger had played a role in all thirty of those deaths to some degree."

"…My God…" Kurenai said in a shocked tone, leaning back in her seat as her eyes widened with shock. She then thought back to when she first met her students, back when they were all genin assigned to her. Kurenai had asked them all what their aspirations were; Kiba said that his was to become the Hokage, an aspiration that Shino quickly (and rather rudely) shot down. Later, after Shino and Hinata had gone home, Kurenai had kept Kiba back; due to Shino's interruption, Kiba never got to say _why_ he wanted to become the Hokage, and Kurenai, wanting to satisfy her itching curiosity, asked Kiba for his reason. What the jonin kunoichi remembered Kiba saying had caught her by surprise. (2)

" _If I_ ' _m the Hokage_ , _then my clan won_ ' _t have to suffer anymore_."

Shaking her head softly, Kurenai looked to Hana. "Do you know where Kiba is now?" asked the jonin kunoichi.

"Aunt Pirate and some of the other women in the Inuzuka clan took him out to celebrate his win in the Chunnin Tournament today," Hana replied, "I have no idea where they are." Looking down at her hands as they laid down on her lap, Hana added, "Although with what you told me about my brother's match today, the looks on the faces of Aunt Pirate and the other women make a whole lot more-"

"Ding-dong, guess who's back?" the familiar voice of Tsume Inuzuka called out in a cheerful tone as the front door opened. A few seconds later, Tsume walked into the living room, followed by Kuromaru, her loyal talking Ninkin. "The boys and I are back from the drinking festival," Tsume greeted, "Anywho, Kuromaru and I are just here to pick up my Iwa drinking horn so I can bring it to the bar where the boys are drinking because Shikaku doesn't believe that I own an Iwa drinking horn and Hey why are Kurenai and Shino here?"

"Ma," Hana began, "Miss Kurenai and Shino are here concerning Kiba's match today in the second round of the Chunnin Tournament."

"Aww geez," Tsume said in a worried tone, "Kiba lost, didn't he?"

"Oh no Mrs. Inuzuka, Kiba won," Shino said in a bitter tone, "And as such he's moving on to the final round."

"Well hot damn!" Tsume exclaimed as she pumped a fist into the air, "For a second there, you had me worried that something's wrong with my son."

"Something _is_ wrong with Kiba, Ma," Hana replied, a somber look on her face, "Here's the deal. While you were gone at the drinking festival, Aunt Pirate and some of the other women in the clan who harbor strong feelings against the Hyuga clan have been trying to get Kiba see things from their point of view."

"So, what, I have to go beat my sister and those other women for filling Kiba's head with crap," Tsume began, "Then I have to beat that crap back out of Kiba's head? With my face?"

"I'm afraid it's…not quite that simple," Hana continued, "You see, Gaku died while you were gone. His sickness finally caught up to him."

"Ah hell," Kuromaru swore under his breath.

"Before that, Kiba was already starting to see things from the point of view of Aunt Pirate and the other women of our clan," Hana continued, "But then Gaku died, and Aunt Pirate used that fact to further bring Kiba into the way of thinking that she and the other Inuzuka women have been harboring. Then in the Chunnin Tournament today, Kiba was pitted against his Hyuga teammate."

"Ah crap," Tsume muttered as she face-palmed, "I'm going to receive an angry call from Hiashi at some point, aren't I?"

"Kiba…" Kurenai said as she choked back some crying, "…Kiba tried to kill Hinata."

Tsume, along with Kuromaru, could only stare blankly at the kunoichi jonin, their eyes (or eye, in Kuromaru's case) widened with shock. "You…" Tsume said in a stunned tone devoid of any emotion, "…You have got to be kidding me."

"If it hadn't been for Kurenai-sensei and Neji jumping in to grab Kiba and Akamaru respectively to push them back," Shino pointed out, "Along with all of the on-site treatment Hinata got before being rushed to the ER over at Konoha General, then Hinata would be dead right now. As it stands, she's in critical condition as we speak."

"…Bloody hell, what did Kiba do to that girl?" Kuromaru asked, shaking his head back and forth a bit.

Walking up to Kuromaru, Shino knelt down and whispered into his ear. (3) After Shino was done whispering a few things into Kuromaru's ear, the large Ninkin looked up to face Tsume. "Yeah, we need to have a talk with your son," Kuromaru said to Tsume, "Kiba completely lost it in his match against Hiashi's kid today."

Face-palming once again, Tsume muttered in a mildly depressed tone, "I'm a terrible mother, aren't I?"

* * *

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH KIBA?!"

It was nighttime, and Naruto was fast asleep in his apartment. But he wasn't having a normal dream; in this particular state of unconsciousness, Naruto was able to speak freely to Kurama within the realm of the seal. Naruto sat cross-legged on Kurama's head, clearly fuming. "Hinata has been Kiba's teammate for years," Naruto ranted, "They're supposed to be friends! Kiba should have known better than to try to kill a teammate that he's pitted against in a match!"

"Maybe he has some issues that he brought with him into the fight," Kurama suggested, "Issues that made him want to kill someone who is supposed to be his teammate and friend." Sighing, Kurama went on to say, "I don't have any idea what those issues may be, though."

"I'll try finding out tomorrow," Naruto replied finally, "Maybe one of the spectators noticed something about Kiba's bloodthirsty behavior."

"Like that sand boy who's had that detestable Shukaku sealed inside of him twice?" Kurama suggested.

Arching an eyebrow in confusion, Naruto replied, "You mean Gaara?"

"You having said 'bloodthirsty behavior' just now jogged my memory about how that sand boy used to act," Kurama remarked casually, "And he is one of the representatives from Suna who had come to watch the Chunnin Tournament."

"It's worth a shot," Naruto agreed, "Thanks for the idea, Kurama."

Smiling, Kurama replied, "You're welcome, Naruto." Letting out a yawn, the Kyubi said, "Now if you'll excuse me, I must rest and gather more chakra. You may not be allowed to use any of our chakra modes in the Chunnin Tournament, but that does not mean I'm not allowed to use my chakra to recharge yours in case you run low in the final match of the tournament."

Nodding in agreement, Naruto added in a grim tone, "Against Kiba."

"I am being reminded more and more of your first go at the Chunnin exams as events play out," Kurama remarked as the shared dream conversation between demon and host started to fade, "Is that weird?"

Shaking his head gently, Naruto replied, "No it isn't, Kurama. In fact, I was wondering when someone else would reach that same conclusion." Closing his eyes, Naruto and Kurama's shared dream faded, and Naruto began to have a dream of his own. Naruto's dream had him, along with Hinata for some reason, as passengers on a train together; a murder mystery takes place on the train, and Naruto and Hinata worked together to solve the case.

Unsurprisingly to Naruto, the murderer ended up being Shikamaru's mom.

* * *

The following morning, Tsume and Kuromaru had found Kiba and Akamaru; they were over at Pirate's home on the Inuzuka clan compound, along with Pirate herself and two other Inuzuka clan women. "What the hell is wrong with you, Kiba?!" Tsume exclaimed angrily at her son, "Isn't that girl supposed to be a teammate of yours?! Why the frig would you try to kill her?!"

"Wow, some clan head you are, sis," Pirate remarked in a bemused tone before Kiba could speak, "You're supposed to, first and foremost, be looking out for the Inuzuka clan. And yet you don't see reason, unlike the rest of our clan, unlike your own son." Crossing her arms, Pirate added, "No wonder people have a tendency to think you're dumb."

"You stay the frig out of this, Pirate," Tsume hissed, pointing an accusing finger at her younger twin sister, "It's your fault and the fault of most of the other women in the clan that my son's head is filled with all of that crap you've been spewing!"

"Hey, lay off of Aunt Pirate, ma," Kiba said with a scowl, "She's been right about a lot of things that have been going on in recent events."

"Kiba, things are nowhere near as black and white as what your aunt and the other women have been saying," Kuromaru said in a mildly concerned tone.

"Kuromaru's got a point, son," Tsume replied as a hint of worry started seeping into her tone.

Huffing, Kiba turned around to leave, with Akamaru following right behind him as always. "Whatever," the Inuzuka chunnin said in a dismissive tone, "I'm heading out for a walk to clear my head."

" _It_ ' _ll take a lot of walking to clear what_ ' _s in your head_ ," Kuromaru thought somberly as he watched his owner's son leave the room, Akamaru following behind.

* * *

Naruto was walking to the hotel where the representatives from the visiting villages are staying. Taking Kurama's advice, Naruto decided that asking Gaara for anything that he saw might put things into perspective. As Naruto walked, he was met up by Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi, the three genin who have seen Naruto as a big brother figure for years.

"…I don't know what Lady Tsunade did when you told her, Big Bro," Konohamaru remarked in a happy tone as he and the others walked, "But whatever she did must have worked like a charm, because whoever that stalker was, they must have gotten the memo to leave Udon, Moegi and I the heck alone!"

"Actually, I haven't yet had the opportunity to talk to Granny Tsunade about anything," Naruto replied, "Maybe whoever the stalker was decided to quit on his or her own."

"It had to have been a guy," Moegi said in a firm, confident tone, "Girls don't stalk." (4)

"So why were you heading over to meet the Kazekage again, Big Bro?" Udon asked.

"He's watched all of the matches in the Chunnin Tournament thus far," Naruto explained, "There's something I'm wanting to ask him about the attitude and behavior that my friend Kiba has been displaying during the tournament." Closing his eyes, thus giving himself a look of concentration, Naruto continued, "The way Kiba has been acting has me concerned."

…

With Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi having left sometime before Naruto reached the hotel, the blonde chunnin was able to have the talk with Gaara that he had been hoping for. The two Jinchuriki found a table in the dining room, both having gotten something to eat as they talked. Surprisingly, Gaara's brother Kankuro, who was at the hotel at the time, decided to join them.

"I have no frigg'en *munch* idea where Temari *munch* *munch* went off to," Kankuro said as he chewed a bite of blueberry muffin, "Probably to go and *munch* *munch* see that Nara friend of *munch* yours, Naruto." Swallowing the bite that he was chewing, Kankuro said before taking another bite, "So what's this about that Inuzuka fellow's behavior?"

"You guys both saw how Kiba fought Sakura during round one, right?" Naruto began. After the Sand brothers nodded in the affirmative, Naruto continued, "I was with Choji in the nurse's office at the time, so I didn't see Kiba's fight against Hinata."

"I'm assuming you want to know our opinion on Inuzuka's second-round fight compared to his first-round fight," Gaara replied. After Naruto nodded once in the affirmative, Gaara said, "After the round-two matches were done, my siblings and I left the arena were leaving the arena to head back here to the hotel. As we were leaving, we were stopped by Mei and her two guards. Mei said that the Inuzuka fellow was by far the most vicious, savage and bloodthirsty ninja that she had ever seen in her entire life. Both of her guards agreed wholeheartedly with her." (5)

"What's your opinion, though?" Naruto asked.

Sighing, Gaara said, "My opinion? Inuzuka's behavior during his matches so far remind me of how I used to behave."

Arching an eyebrow in mild confusion, Naruto said, "You?"

"I hold no illusions of how I used to be," Gaara began, "Before you did me a favor and beat that nonsense out of my head. I would consistently seek to validate my own existence by any means necessary. Unfortunately, that usually translated into me acting murderously towards others, especially if by acting that way towards a particular person would somehow make me feel as if my life would be validated." Kankuro tensed up, very slightly, as his little brother talked about the past. Sighing, Gaara continued, "I saw the look in the eyes of that Inuzuka fellow in both of his matches. That look reminded me of how I used to be. Inuzuka was seeking to validate his existence in both fights, particularly against Hyuga."

"…I can understand why Kiba would want to 'validate his existence', as you put it, in his fight against Sakura," Naruto remarked as he stroked his chin with his right hand, "I mean, I heard a lot of people saying that Sakura was sure to beat Kiba, and Kiba's sense of smell isn't his only sharpened sense. Kiba, the prideful guy that he is, was probably riled up by all of the doubt that people were having in his odds of winning the match." Looking Gaara directly in the eyes, the blonde chunnin continued, "But why would Kiba not only want to 'validate his existence' in his fight against Hinata, but do so in a far more violent manner than in his match against Sakura, and with the intention to kill?"

Sighing, Gaara closed his eyes, giving himself the look of being deep in thought. After a few seconds, the Kazekage opened his eyes again to regard his closest friend. "I think that Inuzuka is suffering," Gaara remarked.

"Kiba? Suffering?" Naruto said in a confused tone, "What are you talking about, Gaara?"

"In addition to seeing hints of seeking validation in his eyes," Gaara went on, "I also saw hints of suffering in Inuzuka's eyes as well. I myself felt some degree of suffering in my early childhood, so I can tell when others are experiencing similar feelings." Inhaling, the Kazekage exhaled before looking Naruto in the eyes and saying, "You yourself suffered in your life, did you not?"

"…Yeah," Naruto remarked in a mildly somber tone, "My childhood sucked." Shaking his head, Naruto said, "But I have friends and other loved ones who rescued me from that suffering."

"Just as you rescued me from the suffering that I was going through," Gaara pointed out, "And allowed me to connect with others in my home village so that I wouldn't be alone anymore."

"But there's a difference between the cases involving us and the one involving Kiba," Naruto pointed out to the Kazekage, "Unlike you or me, Kiba didn't grow up alone. He has both a family and a clan. Also, both of them love Kiba as much as Kiba loves them, so he couldn't have felt that he grew up alone, either."

"Maybe your Inuzuka friend isn't alone in his suffering?" Kankuro suggested to Naruto, getting both Naruto's and Gaara's attention. With two pairs of Jinchuriki eyes on him, Kankuro went on, "If what you say is true, Naruto," Kankuro elaborated, "And your Inuzuka friend cares for his family and clan as much as they both care for him, then if they're suffering as well, your Inuzuka friend's suffering is explained."

"I'll have to look into it, then," Naruto replied. Getting up from the table that he and the Sand brothers sat at, Naruto added, " _After_ I give Kiba the beating that he has coming for trying to kill one of his own teammates. Suffering or not, nothing justifies someone trying to kill one of their own teammates."

"I heard from your Hokage that, due to Konoha parents taking issue with what happened in the Inuzuka fellow's match against that Hyuga girl," Gaara said, "That an actual no-killing rule will have to be implemented for future tournaments such as this. That being said, it may be in your best interest if you set the example for future tournaments by refraining from killing Inuzuka. You should also not kill Inuzuka's dog, either."

Shaking his head gently, Naruto replied, "Relax, Gaara. I'm not going to kill Kiba _or_ Akamaru." Turning around, Naruto added before leaving, "I'm just going to knock some sense into them, is all." With that, the blonde chunnin took his leave.

* * *

It was mid-afternoon over at the large outdoor arena in Konoha, the one where the second-round matches of the 'rookie nine's first go at the chunnin exams took place. Due to damage suffered during the Konoha Crush, along with general repairs and upkeep over time, the stadium looked much different than it did back then. But it was still perfectly usable for the final round of the Chunnin Tournament, and that's all that mattered.

As the villagers of Konoha, shinobi and regular citizens alike, started coming in to find seats so that they can watch the last match, the representatives from Suna, Iwa and Kiri had already been escorted to specially designated viewing booths that had been prepared for them ahead of time. A viewing booth had also been prepared for the various nobles of the Land of Fire, along with another viewing booth for notable residents of Konoha itself.

Sakura Haruno had accompanied Lady Tsunade, the fifth and current Hokage, to the Konoha viewing booth on Tsunade's invitation; as Shizune was acting as the proctor for the Chunnin Tournament, Tsunade invited Sakura in Shizune's place. The fifth Hokage would later admit to herself that, even if Shizune was available, she would have chosen Sakura over Shizune anyway, mostly due to Shizune acting in a scolding manner towards Tsunade whenever the lady fifth would indulge in her habits of gambling and drinking sake (Sakura was too respectful/nervous to call Tsunade out on her habits). But that's another story for another time.

When Tsunade and Sakura arrived in the Konoha viewing booth, they saw that there were groups from Konoha's remaining noble clans already seated inside. From the Aburame clan was Shibi and his son Shino, along with two Aburame clan men. From the Hyuga clan was Hiashi and his nephew Neji, along with Ko. From the Akimichi clan was Choza and his son Choji, along with two other Akimichi men.

Smiling in an amused manner, Tsunade remarked, "Well now, this is certainly a surprise. I get to sit and watch the final match of the Chunnin Tournament with groups from each of Konoha's remaining noble clans."

"We were invited to watch the match here, Lady Tsunade," Choza remarked.

As Tsunade nodded in understanding, Hiashi stepped forward. "Excuse me, Lady Fifth," Hiashi began in a concerned tone, "I don't suppose you can give me an update on my daughter's status, can you?"

"Hinata's actually awake, Mr. Hyuga," Sakura explained in Tsunade's place, "Although she's still really weak. She also has to communicate by writing down what she wants to say on a pad of paper because she voice is currently really quiet and it causes her some discomfort to speak. Thankfully, she'll recover in time and will be able to talk like normal."

Sighing in relief, Hiashi said, "Well thank goodness for that."

"Speaking of your children, Hiashi," Tsunade said, "I figured that your other kid would be joining you, Neji and this Ko fellow of yours."

"Hanabi is over at Konoha General, visiting Hinata," Hiashi explained, "They're going to be watching the match on TV, as it's going to be broadcasted." Shaking his head gently, the Hyuga leader continued in a mildly somber tone, "You won't believe how much crying a thirteen-year-old girl is capable of unless you saw Hanabi's reaction to seeing her older sister rushed to the hospital in critical condition due to nearly being killed."

"One of our clan's elders, a lesser member of the main branch, tried scolding Lady Hanabi for her crying, saying that it was showing a lack of decorum that was unbefitting of the Hyuga clan," Ko said, "In response, Lord Hiashi promptly told that elder to, and I'm quoting him on this, 'shut the hell up'."

"I myself can understand how my youngest daughter feels, as I had a close friendship with my brother Hizashi," Hiashi remarked, "Granted there are a few differences between the case of my brother and I, and that of my two daughters. But my point about that elder having no right to call Hanabi out still stands." Neji, who stood on his uncle's right, nodded in agreement. (6)

Over in one of the more public seating areas, Tsume was sitting down, with Kuromaru sitting on the floor next to her. As the two Inuzuka sat, they were joined by Tsume's friends Harold Fisher and Inoichi Yamanaka. "Harold and I saw footage of all of the matches from the Chunnin Tournament so far," Inoichi greeted the Inuzuka matriarch as he and Harold sat down, "That son of yours is brutal."

"I cannot believe that he'd rough up little Cherry Bug the way he did in round one," Harold remarked as he shook his head in a gentle, somewhat somber manner, "Thank goodness Lady Fifth saw to treating her injuries." Sighing, Harold continued, "But I am especially thankful, Tsume, that your son didn't do to Sakura what he did to Hiashi's kid."

"As Harold and I were placing our bets on Kiba, I silently gave my thanks to the heavens that Kiba wasn't paired up to fight my precious little princess during the Chunnin Tournament," Inoichi remarked.

"You guys placed bets on Tsume's son," Kuromaru stated more than asked. Sighing in a knowing manner, Kuromaru added, "Of course, you did."

"Well hey," Harold remarked to the Inuzuka Ninkin, "Out of Inoichi, Tsume and I, Tsume is the only one with a kid still in the Chunnin Tournament and hey Tsume why are you being silent?"

"Oh," Tsume replied as she seemingly came back to attention, "Umm, sorry, boys. I was just hoping that Kiba either works the nonsense out of his system, or his opponent beats it out of him manually. Either way, Kiba has a lot of nonsense running around in his head, and he needs to get it out."

Sighing, Inoichi said, "I'm assuming that, with you and Kuromaru gone at the drinking festival, your sister and her fellows in the clan who hold a grudge against Hiashi's folks decided to take the opportunity to try and bring Kiba over to the dark side?"

"Unfortunately," Tsume replied in a resigned tone.

"Well gentlemen, let's just wait and see how Kiba's match goes, hmm?" Harold remarked to his friends, "We certainly can't speak to Kiba now, after all."

"Agreed," Inoichi said to his best friend, "Let us see, Harold, if our combined thirty-thousand ryo was well placed."

...

Down in the arena, Naruto and Kiba were glaring at each other. With a smirk on his face, Kiba took around, seeing the many spectators who had come to watch the final match of the Chunnin Tournament. There was excited talking amongst all of the cheering for the fight that had yet to start. There was also a fair but noticeable amount of jeering, although all of said jeering was aimed at Kiba.

Turing his attention back to his opponent, Kiba said to Naruto while Akamaru growled in a menacing manner at the blonde chunnin, "Wow, isn't this something, Naruto? Look at how many people from all over Konoha came to watch Akamaru and I mop the floor with you."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Naruto replied, his neutral expression unreadable.

Arching an eyebrow in mild confusion, Kiba asked, "The hell are you talking abo-"

"You know damn well what I'm talking about, Kiba," Naruto snarled, cutting Kiba off mid-response, "How could you do what you did to Hinata? Would you have done the same to Shino, or Kurenai-sensei? What would possess you to go so far against one of your own teammates, one of your own _friends_?"

"Feh," Kiba growled, his tone annoyed and mildly dark, "Like she was ever really my friend."

" _Well_ , _there goes trying to talk some sense into him_ before _our fight_ ," Naruto thought bitterly as Shizune prepared to announce the start of the final match, " _I guess that things will have to wait until_ after _Kiba calms down_."

"Okay, everyone!" Shizune announced loudly to the entire stadium, "We're about to begin the final match of the Chunnin Tournament, which will be between Naruto Uzumaki and Kiba Inuzuka!" The crowd began to cheer loudly as the two contestants assumed stances for battle.

"Scared, Naruto?" Kiba asked in a taunting tone.

"You wish," the blonde chunnin replied coolly.

Looking back and forth between the two chunnin plus the one chunnin's Ninkin, Shizune said so that just Naruto and Kiba could hear her, "Okay, boys. This is just a match, so the fighting is just until one of you _just_ reaches the point of being unable to continue." Speaking somewhat specifically to Kiba, Shizune added in a mildly bitter tone, "There's no need to go any further than that." Raising her right hand, Shizune announced loud enough for the stadium to hear, "Now then, BEGIN!"

Kiba and Akamaru immediately leapt back, with Kiba throwing some smoke bombs at the ground to create a smoke cloud. Naruto, who had leapt back at the same time as his opponents, immediately cast a Shadow Clone jitsu, generating a couple of clones. Right as Naruto's clones all appeared, two spinning streams shot out from the giant smoke cloud, both of them flying right at Naruto and his clones.

The two spinning streams shot at the ground in front of the oncoming clones, causing many of them to 'poof' away upon impact. Naruto and two of his remaining clones leapt back, and watched as Kiba and Akamaru, the latter transformed by Human Beast Mimicry into another Kiba, came out of a slam crater of ground rubble. "Hmph," said Kiba as he and the transformed Akamaru leapt away from their point of impact, "Figures you'd go for your Shadow Clone jitsu in our fight. Afraid of taking me on alone, Naruto?"

"Says the guy who always brings his dog to fights as his backup?" Naruto replied, "Mister kettle, mister pot called. He says you're black."

"Shut the hell up!" Kiba snapped as he and the transformed Akamaru prepared to fly at Naruto and his clones with another Fang Over Fang, "You don't know anything about the Inuzuka clan!" He and Akamaru then spun forward at Naruto with their collaborative technique as Kiba said, "Maybe it's about high time you learned!"

Up in the Konoha viewing booth, as Tsunade and Sakura watched the fight with the groups from the Akimichi, Aburame and Hyuga clans, Sakura remarked in a confused tone, "What's Kiba going on about?"

"Kurenai-sensei and I spoke with Kiba's older sister Hana yesterday evening," Shino replied, drawing the attention of some of the others in the Konoha viewing booth, "To put things in simple terms, Kiba is riled up for reasons that his Aunt Pirate and some other Inuzuka clan women have managed to convince him is the fault of the Hyuga clan."

"What?" Neji remarked as he turned to regard the Aburame chunnin, clearly confused. Neji then turned to regard his uncle, who merely sighed in a regretful tone.

Back down in the arena, Naruto leapt out of the way of another oncoming Fang Over Fang from Kiba and the transformed Akamaru. The two Inuzuka members came out of their spinning, landing on all fours, and glared at Naruto as they rose to their feet. The Kiba on Naruto's left brought his hands together in a hand sign as he said, "Remember when I said that you aren't the only Shadow Clone user, Naruto?"

A single Shadow Clone of Kiba appeared, putting the Kiba that was on Naruto's left in the middle. The original Kiba then took out three Military Ration Pills, handing one each to the transformed Akamaru and the Kiba Shadow Clone. Over in the audience where Tsume and her group sat, Inoichi said in a confused tone, "Wait a minute Tsume, did your son just give a Military Rations Pill to a clone he created?"

"Those are actually improved recipe Military Rations Pills," Tsume remarked, "You see, the original recipe used by Inuzuka clan shinobi recharges one's chakra to some degree while allowing the consumer to fight continuously for three days straight. Afterwards, the consumer collapses from exhaustion."

"The improved recipe Military Rations Pills that Kiba just used not only does a slightly better job at recharging one's chakra than the original recipe," Kuromaru went on, "But they don't come with the 'collapse after three days' side-effect. Granted, the improved recipe Military Rations Pills taste like Hana's first attempt at making fried chicken, but taste isn't necessarily a factor that one usually considers in battle." (7)

"That still doesn't explain why Kiba would waste a Military Rations Pill on a clone," Harold remarked, "I'm going to have to side with Inoichi on this one, Tsume. What the hell does your son have planned?"

"Something destructive, obviously," Tsume remarked, a somewhat strong hint of worry in her tone. This hint did not go unnoticed by Inoichi and Harold, who regarded their friend with eyebrows arched in curiosity, especially considering that Tsume has never been one to shy away from being destructive.

Down in the arena, Kiba glared at Naruto as the two Inuzuka members and Kiba's clone began to surge with chakra. "I hope you're as tough as people say you are," Kiba snarled at the blonde chunnin, "Otherwise what I'm about to do will send you straight to hell!" Kiba's clone and the transformed Akamaru grouped up with Kiba as the Inuzuka chunnin, his hands together in a ninja hand sign, shouted, "HUMAN-BEAST MIXTURE TRANSFORMATION! THREE-HEADED WOLF!"

A cloud of white smoke 'poofed' around Kiba, his clone and the transformed Akamaru, but the cloud was suddenly, and violently, dispersed from within as a gigantic three-headed canine, about as large as some of the larger toads Naruto is capable of summoning, appeared in the arena. All three heads of the hellish beast looked skyward and let out simultaneous howls.

Up where she and her friends sat in the audience, Tsume sighed in a resigned tone. "So, that's what he had planned," Tsume remarked, getting the attention of Harold, Inoichi and Kuromaru, "Normally, Kiba's three-headed wolf transformation is nowhere near that big. I'd put the average at around one-fourth to one-half that size. But with the boost provided by the improved Military Rations Pills…"

"That certainly explains why he'd give one to a clone," Kuromaru remarked, drawing nods of agreement from Harold and Inoichi.

Down in the arena, after it had finished its howling, the three-headed canine looked down at Naruto with all three of its heads. It jumped up and spun at Naruto quickly in a single Passing Fang. The spinning hell beast collided at the ground around where Naruto stood, kicking up a huge cloud of dust and rubble.

…And a large cloud of white smoke that came with using a summoning jitsu, which caught the attention of many of the people in the audience who were watching the match. This cloud of smoke surrounded the entirety of the area in which the three-headed canine crashed into the ground in the arena.

Naruto's toad summoning jitsu, on its own, was NOT one of the various skills and techniques that Naruto was barred from using during the Chunnin Tournament. However, Naruto was barred from using it to summon certain familiars, such as Gamabunta. Luckily for Naruto, the list of his various skills and techniques that he was given also listed which familiars he was barred from summoning; with the time that he had between matches, Naruto did some clearing ahead of time with the familiars that he was allowed to call upon, just so they would be ready in case Naruto called upon any of them during the Chunnin Tournament.

Even luckier for Naruto, his go-to familiar, Gamakichi, was one of the familiars that he was allowed to summon, and it was this familiar that Naruto had called upon. When the smoke had cleared, Gamakichi, who at this point is roughly somewhat smaller than his father Gamabunta, had his hands on the shoulders of the three-headed canine; Gamakichi had the beast at arm's length, the beast's three heads snapping at the giant toad without being able to bite anything.

"Woah!" Gamakichi exclaimed in surprise, "Did the gates of Hades open up or something? What's this fella doing here?"

"That's just my friend Kiba, a Shadow Clone he created, and Kiba's dog Akamaru in a combined transformation jitsu," Naruto explained from where he stood on his familiar's head.

"Seriously?!" Gamakichi replied in a tone od disbelief, "A combined transformation jitsu like this must require some serious fuel!"

"All three of them ate one rations pill each before using the jitsu," Naruto replied, "But that's beside the point. I need you to help me keep them pinned!"

"Roger, man!" Gamakichi replied as Naruto leapt up into the air. Over in the Suna viewing booth, Gaara and his siblings watched as the match unfolded.

"He-he just used the summoning jitsu!" Temari stammered as she stood up from her seat, "He's barred from using the summoning jitsu, isn't he?!"

"He's barred from summoning certain familiars, Temari," Gaara pointed out, "But Naruto is not barred from using the summoning jitsu altogether. The list I had you give him included all of the familiars that he was barred from using." Pointing down into the arena, Gaara said, "The familiar that Naruto just summoned, Gamakichi, is perfectly okay for Naruto to call upon."

"Besides which, sis," Kankuro added, "Given what Inuzuka is doing, I think that Naruto's justified in calling in some heavy backup."

Back down in the arena, Gamakichi used his Starch Syrup Gun technique, aiming at the paws of the three-headed canine to keep it from being able to move. As Gamakichi did this, Naruto, who was up in the air, used the Shadow Clone Jitsu to create a great number of clones. As they all started falling down on the three-headed canine, Naruto and all of his clones all used the Rasengan, aiming it at the back of the three-headed canine. As a result, multiple Rasengan all slammed into the three-headed canine's back all at once, making all three heads howl out in pain.

Due to the sheer damage that it had taken, the combination transformation jitsu was undone; as the resulting cloud poofed outwards, Naruto saw a Kiba fly out of the cloud randomly, only to poof away. " _There goes the clone_ ," Naruto thought as the remainder of the cloud dispersed, exposing Kiba and the transformed Akamaru, both of which looked up as Naruto and his clones came landing down out of the sky.

Kiba and the transformed Akamaru leapt up and spun at Naruto, the Naruto Shadow Clones and Gamakichi with the Fang Over Fang technique; many of the clones were undone, and Gamakichi took a good hit or two, although that wouldn't be enough to take down a summoning familiar as big as Gamakichi. As the last of the syrup that Gamakichi spat out faded, the two Inuzuka came out of their spinning, both turning to glare at Naruto.

"What will it take to put you down already?!" Kiba snarled at Naruto in exclamation, his brow furrowed in savage rage.

" _Kiba_ ' _s losing it_ ," Naruto thought worriedly.

Lunging forward towards Naruto, Kiba raised his right hand back, preparing to claw at Naruto. "You're going down now!" Kiba yelled, only to stop short when he noticed Naruto rushing past him, a Rasengan in the blonde chunnin's right hand. Kiba turned on his heels just in time to see Naruto thrust the Rasengan into the gut of the transformed Akamaru. The transformation was undone due to the sheer damage it took, and Akamaru was thrown back and slammed into the flat surface of a large hunk of rubble that was kicked up earlier, resulting in Akamaru getting knocked out.

Stunned by seeing his loyal Ninkin thrashed so suddenly, Kiba dashed at Naruto without thinking. As such, Gamakichi backhanded Kiba with his right hand; it wasn't an actual slap, or had any significant effort put into it, but it still had enough force to throw Kiba into the air. As the Inuzuka chunnin was air borne, Naruto leapt up into the air himself while shouting, "That'll do, Gamakichi!"

"Got it, chief!" Gamakichi replied in a half respectful half playful tone as he gave Naruto a salute just before vanishing, returning to where he was summoned from. As that happened, Naruto reached where Kiba was at, and slammed him in his left side with another Rasengan. Kiba was thrown right at the ground by the force with which the Rasengan struck him. As Naruto landed back on the ground on his feet, Kiba got to his feet, albeit with some mild degree of struggling.

Holding his right hand to his left side as if he were trying to stem the flow of a bleeding wound, Kiba once again glared angrily at Naruto. The blonde chunnin firmly believed that the glare that the Inuzuka chunnin had going didn't look human. "You *huff* just won't go *huff* *huff* down, will you?" Kiba panted in pain and exhaustion.

"I…was about to say the same about you," Naruto replied, genuinely surprised (and a little worried) that Kiba was still standing. Taking his right hand away from his side, Kiba readied his hand to claw at Naruto as he ran forward. Realizing that Kiba was not going to stop despite his condition, Naruto ran forward as well, his right hand pulled back in preparation to punch Kiba.

As the two chunnin got close to each other, Kiba defiantly yelled, "I won't be defeated! My clan won't be defeated! Not now, not-" Kiba was cut off before he could finish, however; right as Kiba clawed at Naruto, leaving a cut that started on the right side of the bridge of Naruto's nose, running under Naruto's right eye, then ending just before reaching all the way across Naruto's right cheek, Naruto slugged Kiba on the left side of his face, throwing him back onto the flat surface of a large hunk of rubble that was kicked up earlier.

As blood slowly ran down the right side of Naruto's face, the blonde chunnin looked over where his opponent laid; Kiba, his eyes closed and head slumped forward, slowly inhaled and exhaled. But other than that, he did nothing. It was clear that the Inuzuka chunnin could not continue. Making a quick dash over to check on Kiba quickly, Shizune raised her right hand after a few seconds of looking at Kiba.

"Kiba Inuzuka has been defeated!" Shizune announced to the audience, "Naruto Uzumaki has won the Chunnin Tournament!" The resulting cheering was nothing short of deafening. Chants of Naruto's name erupted from the applauding spectators. His need to consistently seek attention having long since died down, Naruto did not run around in victory. He didn't even pump a fist into the air. Naruto just stood there, breathing in and out slowly as medic shinobi placed Kiba and Akamaru on stretchers to carry them out of the arena.

Up in the audience where they sat, Harold and Inoichi turned to face Tsume and Kuromaru. "Sorry that your son lost in the final match of the Chunnin Tournament, Tsume," Harold said in a sympathetic tone.

"I'm surprised that you two aren't upset over losing a combined thirty-thousand ryo," Kuromaru remarked, "The two of you usually react in an upset manner the instant you lose such a big bet."

"Oh, Harold and I are most certainly upset over losing thirty-thousand ryo to that Kurotsuchi girl from Iwa," Inoichi said to the talking Inuzuka Ninkin. Turning back to face the arena, Inoichi continued, "But Tsume's son took one hell of a beating in his match, and that was before he finally went down. Besides, that was one hell of a fight."

"I agree," Kuromaru replied with a nod, "There's no shame in losing such a well-fought match."

Nodding slowly, Tsume said after sighing in a resigned tone, "Yeah. I just hope Kiba will be in good enough condition when I visit him later to listen when I talk to him."

Aside from Tsume and her group talking to each other, practically everyone in the stadium was excited. The reactions in the Konoha viewing booth were particularly excited. "Naruto won!" Sakura said as the others in the Konoha viewing booth cheered, "Alright!"

"Naruto certainly has come a long way, hasn't he?" Neji remarked to the pink-haired chunnin as he and some of the others in the Konoha viewing booth started clapping.

Nodding in agreement, Sakura joined the others in the viewing booth in clapping. As she clapped in congratulations for Naruto, Sakura thought, " _I guess you were right about Naruto winning the Chunnin Tournament after all_ , _Hinata._ _I wonder if you were able to see Naruto win this time_."

…

Over in a hospital room over at Konoha General, Hinata and her younger sister Hanabi were watching the TV, which was turned on to a televised broadcasting of the final match of the Chunnin Tournament. Whereas Hanabi, who got up from the chair she was sitting in, was jumping up and down in excitement, Hinata was laying in the hospital bed in the room; other than the somewhat bloody-looking bandage over Hinata's throat, nothing looked off about the Hyuga chunnin.

"Yes!" Hanabi cheered excitedly as she jumped up and down, "Naruto kicked that jerk's butt!"

Even if she wasn't in the condition she was in, Hinata still would have acted in a far more reserved manner than her younger sister. Even so, Hinata was just as glad that Naruto had won the Chunnin Tournament. " _Congratulations_ , _Naruto_ - _kun_ ," Hinata thought, a small but sincere smile on her face. She closed her eyes and nodded, a tear running down the left side of her face.

* * *

When Tsume and Kuromaru found Kiba and Akamaru in the medical ward of the arena, Tsume was surprised to see that her son was already sitting up. "Young man, you should probably lay down," Tsume remarked to her son. Hearing his mother got Kiba's attention, making him turn his head to see her and her Ninkin walk in. Kiba's attention was piqued not by Tsume speaking up in and of itself, but by the tone with which Tsume spoke; there was no cocky pride, no anger, no humor. Tsume didn't even sound as rough as she usually does.

Her voice sounded kind and gentle, sympathetic and sad; if Kiba didn't see that it was his mother who was talking to him, the Inuzuka chunnin would have suspected that his older sister was coming to visit him instead. Turning his head to face away from his mother, Kiba said in a bitter tone, "If you're here to chew me out for losing, then I suppose I can't do much in the way of getting up and leaving."

Sighing, Tsume gently shook her head. "Kiba, I'm not here to scold you for losing," Tsume said in a sympathetic tone, "I'm here to apologize to you."

"Apologize?" Kiba asked, arching an eyebrow in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"For not being there for you," Tsume explained. Due to the confused look that she was receiving from her son, Tsume continued, "I know how much you care about the Inuzuka clan. I know how much the Ninkin mean to you. All of the deaths that the Inuzuka clan suffered this year must have really torn you up, more than I could guess. I should have been there to help you through the losses we've suffered, to give you a shoulder to cry on." Her expression taking on a sadder look, Tsume regarded her son as tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. "I'm sorry, Kiba," Tsume choked out as tears rolled down the sides of her face, "I'm so sorry."

Sighing, Kiba got to his feet, drawing attention from Kuromaru. "Hey Kiba, you should listen to your mother's advice about laying down," the talking Ninkin suggested, "You did take one hell of a beating in your match. In fact, have your injuries been treated yet? Or Akamaru's?"

Scoffing, Kiba replied, "The guys carrying who carried me and Akamaru in said that they did so only because they wanted to avoid having the arena littered with all of the trash that would have been chucked at us by all of the people who were booing us. They just plopped us down in here and took their leave."

"Your injuries weren't even treated?" Tsume said in a mildly alarmed tone, "The way you were holding your side at that one point suggested that you broke a rib!"

"I think Kiba did suffer a broken rib," Sakura's voice called out, getting the four Inuzuka members to turn and see Sakura walk in, along with Ino, Harold and Inoichi.

"Inoichi and I figured that your son and his dog could use some patching up," Harold remarked to Tsume, "So we brought Sakura and Ino in to have them take a look at the boys."

"You cannot be serious," Ino scoffed, "You actually want Sakura and I to heal those monsters?! Did you hear what they did to-" Ino was cut off when a hand came down on her head from behind, its palm resting on Ino's scalp. Ino could tell full well that it was her father that was doing this; he had done this same thing many times before, usually when he was being stern.

"Young lady," Inoichi began in a mildly firm tone, "You and Sakura will be healing Kiba and Akamaru."

"But he-" Ino began to argue, but Sakura had cut Ino off this time.

"I'll explain later, Ino," Sakura said, "For now, let's just heal Kiba and Akamaru."

Ino sighed in a resigned tone as she and Sakura started up their respective Mystical Palm techniques. "Fine," Ino replied, "But that explanation better be pretty damn good."

* * *

Naruto stood before Tsunade's desk at the Hokage office building, at which Tsunade herself sat. Shizune stood off to the side on Naruto's right. "Well, Naruto," Tsunade began, "You've put on quite a show. I saw all of the matches in the Chunnin Tournament, but the most impressive one by far is your final match against Kiba in the tournament. Good job."

"Well I'm not one to go down easily," Naruto replied.

"I'll have to agree on that, but that's beside the point," Tsunade remarked, "The various Land of Fire nobles who came to watch the Chunnin Tournament were all pleased with what they saw. And that's not just for the matches in which you fought; they were impressed with how the other chunnin performed as well. The visiting representatives from Suna, Iwa and Kiri were likewise impressed. However, out of all of the chunnin who took part in the Chunnin Tournament, it is you, Naruto, who had by far had been the most impressive. Lady Mizukage Mei was especially happy with your final victory against Kiba, although that's because Mei didn't like how brutal Kiba was in his matches against Sakura and especially Hinata."

"It should be noted that some of the Land of Fire nobles had also taken an interest in Kiba's performances as well," Shizune remarked, "As such, they said to Lady Tsunade that if they ever send mission requests to Konoha, she shouldn't be surprised if they specifically request Kiba to carry out the mission."

"But other Land of Fire nobles also said similar things about wanting you to carry out missions for them," Tsunade said to the blonde chunnin, "As did the representatives from Suna, Kiri and Iwa. Your efforts in the Chunnin Tournament had accomplished the goal I was hoping for, and then some. You're one hell of a powerful ninja, Naruto, and aside from that, you've also proven that you have the skills and competency for it, so…" Tsunade stopped short for dramatic effect, closed her eyes. Opening them again, Tsunade said, "…Congratulations, Naruto. I'm promoting you to jonin."

"I'm being promoted to jonin?" Naruto remarked in a surprised tone, clearly caught off guard.

"Yes, you are," Tsunade replied, "I take it that you accept the promotion?"

"Of course, I do," Naruto replied as he saluted Tsunade, "Thank you."

Smiling, Tsunade said, "You're welcome." After a few more formalities, Naruto took his leave from Tsunade's office. As he walked out of the Hokage office building, Naruto, despite himself, was able to keep a calm, outward appearance.

 _In_ wardly, however, Naruto was running around and cheering like his twelve-year-old self.

END, BEFORE THE REDEMPTION CHAPTER FIVE

Author's Notes:

(1) Neji, being a jonin, having to step in to keep Hinata from being killed by an opponent in a fighting tournament. A complete turn-around from what he used to be?

(2) To put things mildly.

(3) The one he still had.

(4) …You don't watch anime all that much, do you, Moegi?

(5) Keep in mind that Mei and her two guards are from Kirigakure. You know what sort of reputation those guys have had in the past.

(6) Neji has long since known the truth, after all.

(7) Hana's first attempt at making fried chicken was so bad that even Choji wouldn't eat it. Kiba said that it wasn't fried chicken, so much as it was a bunch of hockey pucks.

And with that, the Chunnin Tournament arc has come to an end. Although I'm aiming for this story to have a more serious tone than my other works, I don't want it to be all serious all the time. The chapter after this one, for example, is going to be a heartwarming break from the grim bleakness that was the past few chapters.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any properties in this work that I did not make myself.

Before the redemption

Chapter six: Mister popularity

Naruto Uzumaki was walking through the market area of Konohagakure one morning, having taken a shortcut on his way to the Hokage office building. Just a few days previous, Naruto won the final match of an event called the Chunnin Tournament, a combat tournament where he and his fellow members of the group known in some circles as the 'Konoha eleven' fought each other in one-on-one matches not unlike the combat portion of their first go at the chunnin exams. Only members of the 'Konoha eleven' who were chunnin were allowed to compete; Neji Hyuga did not compete. There was no need for him to take part, though; Neji was already a jonin.

…As was Naruto now, since Lady Tsunade, the fifth (and current) Hokage, promoted Naruto to jonin after he had won the Chunnin Tournament. This was part of the reason why Naruto was on his way over to the Hokage office building; now that he was a jonin, Naruto wanted to see what sort of missions he would now be allowed to take up. As Naruto was walking, he was spotted and sub-sequentially joined by Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi, three genin who have taken to looking up to Naruto as a sort-of big brother figure.

"…Like I said the last time you brought this up," Naruto said to Konohamaru as the two of them talked, "I have not yet had the chance to let Granny Tsunade know about the potential stalker."

"Well that certainly explains why Udon, Moegi and I have the feeling that the stalker's back," Konohamaru replied in a mildly worried tone.

"I have a theory about who the stalker is," Moegi said suddenly, holding up an index finger.

"Oh?" Naruto said, "And who do you think it is?"

"I believe that the stalker is…" Moegi began, then turned on her heels quickly to point dramatically at Konohamaru before continuing, "…The ghost of Konohamaru's grandpa. It would certainly explain why we haven't been able to find anyone stalking us, because we aren't being stalked, we're being haunted."

"You think my grandpa's ghost is haunting us?" Konohamaru remarked, looking rather alarmed.

"You must have done something to disappoint your grandpa," Moegi said, "Or maybe you have yet to do something that he wanted you to do." With a somewhat mischievous grin spreading across her face, Moegi continued, "And now he's haunting you because you've been a bad grandson!"

"The ghost of the late Third Hokage is not haunting you three," Naruto stated firmly, "And Moegi, quit trying to freak Konohamaru out."

"So, who do you think is stalking us, Big Bro?" Udon asked.

"I have no clue, Udon," Naruto replied, "But since I'm on my way over to the Hokage office building right now, I'll be sure to bring the issue up with Granny Tsunade after I-"

"Oi, Naruto!" a familiar voice called out, cutting Naruto off and getting him plus the genin to turn around. To their surprise, they saw Naruto's friends Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka walk up. Like Naruto, both Sakura and Ino had competed in the aforementioned Chunnin Tournament. Unfortunately, both girls were eliminated in the first round. It had been Sakura, Naruto's fellow teammate from Team Kakashi, who had called out.

"Ino and I heard that you're been promoted to jonin," Sakura began, "Is that true?"

Nodding in the affirmative, Naruto replied, "I was on my way to the Hokage office building to see what sort of missions I'd be allowed to undertake now."

"Lady Tsunade said that most of the Land of Fire nobles who came to watch the Chunnin Tournament might specifically request you to carry out any missions they send in requests for," Ino remarked, "It's pretty impressive that you made such a mark, Naruto! Congratulations!"

"Maybe Udon, Moegi and I should hire Big Bro to track down and put my grandpa's spirit to rest," Konohamaru remarked.

"For the last time Konohamaru, you aren't being haunted by your grandfather's ghost," Naruto said, pinching the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes and sighed; it was an expression of mild annoyance.

"What's this about Lord Third's ghost?" Sakura asked, a confused look on her face.

Shaking his head, Naruto replied, "It's nothing to worry about, Sakura. I'll handle it."

"Well anywho, Sakura and I just wanted to track you down so that we can congratulate you for the promotion," Ino remarked, "Now that you're a jonin, you'll-"

"There you are, Naruto!" another familiar voice called out; upon hearing this voice, Ino winced in embarrassment, her shoulders scrunching up somewhat.

"You have got to be kidding me…" Ino muttered as she face-palmed.

Naruto, the genin and the girls all saw a group of three grown men approach them; the group consisted of Inoichi Yamanaka, who is Ino's father, Kizashi Haruno, who is Sakura's father, and Harold Fisher, who is Sakura's uncle. It had been Inoichi who had called out. (1)

"I heard that you're now a jonin, same as Harold and I," Inoichi began, "Welcome to the club, my good man."

"Uhh…thanks?" Naruto replied, mildly unsure on how to react.

"Not only did you join the club, but you did so in such a fashion that people all over Konoha think you're the hottest thing since sliced bread," Harold remarked, "Pretty sick, dude."

"I'm pretty sure I didn't do that impressive a job, Mr. Fisher," Naruto remarked, blushing slightly out of embarrassment.

"Don't be so modest, Naruto," Kizashi said, "My brother-in-law has a point about you being the talk of the village! It must be pretty good to be mister popularity, huh?"

"Dad, Uncle Harold, Mr. Yamanaka, please quit trying to embarrass Naruto," Sakura said in a mildly annoyed tone.

"Maybe your grandpa's ghost will switch from haunting us to haunting Big Bro, if what the older guys are saying is true," Moegi whispered to Konohamaru as the older folks were talking to each other, drawing out some nods of agreement from the mildly rattled genin.

"We aren't trying to embarrass Naruto, young lady," Inoichi said, "He really is as popular as the boys and I are saying. In fact, many fathers all over the village have a desire to offer their daughter's hand in marriage to Naruto. He _is_ Konoha's most eligible bachelor right now, after all."

"You cannot be serious, dad," Ino remarked.

"I am entirely serious," Inoichi replied, "And that reminds me." Turning his head to face Naruto, Inoichi said, "Naruto, will you marry my daughter Ino?"

"What?!" Naruto exclaimed out of shock.

"What?!" Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon all exclaimed out of shock and in unison.

"What?!" Sakura exclaimed out of shock.

"WHAT?!" Ino exclaimed out of shock, having exclaimed the loudest of all.

"It would be totally awesome to have you in the house of Yamanaka," Inoichi explained, "Please do me the honor of becoming my son-in-law."

"Dad, I'm dating Sai!" Ino exclaimed.

"And that's another reason I want you to marry my daughter!" Inoichi said to Naruto without turning to face Ino, "You are by no means an artsy little son of a bitch! That makes you perfect!"

"Inoichi, with all due respect, Naruto cannot marry your daughter," Kizashi remarked. (2)

"Thank you, dad," Sakura said, "About time someone decided to be the voice of-"

Cutting his daughter off, Kizashi continued saying to Inoichi, "After all, Naruto is going to marry MY daughter!"

"WHAT?!" Sakura exclaimed.

Turning to face Naruto, Kizashi said, "Naruto my good man, I cannot think of anyone more suited to marry my daughter Sakura other than you! Besides, you do have something of a crush on her, do you not?"

"Umm, that crush I had on Sakura actually faded a while ago," Naruto explained, "Granted, Sakura and I are still good friends, but-"

"It's time to take that friendship to the next level, my good boy," Kizashi interrupted. Turning around, Kizashi said, "Come on, Harold! I need you to back me up on this!"

"I don't know if I can take part in this, Kizashi," Harold replied as he put his hands on the sides of his head, "You're my bro, and Inoichi is my best friend! This conflict of interest is making my brain feel like it's being smashed out by a slice of lemon wrapped around a large gold brick!"

"Dad, Mr. Haruno, Mr. Fisher, leave Naruto alone!" Ino snapped, "You're embarrassing him!"

"Oh, look at that, Naruto," Inoichi said, "Ino is already looking out for your well-being! She'll make one hell of a wife for you!"

"ARUGH!" Ino exclaimed in a frustrated manner, throwing her hands up into the air.

* * *

Naruto eventually made his way to the Hokage office building, where he inquired about possible missions. Fortunately for Naruto, there weren't any missions available at the moment, so he had a good bit of free time. With that free time that he had on his hands, Naruto decided that he'd get some training in, and maybe a workout.

As Naruto walked back through the market area, not being able to shake the feeling that he forgot something, he was met up by Might Gai, the self-proclaimed rival of Naruto's jonin instructor Kakashi. With Gai were his students, Rock Lee, Neji Hyuga and Tenten. "Greetings, Naruto!" Gai said as he held up his right hand in a gesture of greeting, "I bet that you're excited now that you're a jonin! Neji and I welcome you to the club!"

"Oh, umm, thank you," Naruto replied.

"If you should so desire, we can take you the secret jonin party club here in Konoha," Gai offered.

"There is no secret jonin party club, Gai-sensei," Neji pointed out.

"Quit trying to ruin my attempts to look cool, Neji!" Gai exclaimed as he turned on his heels to face the Hyuga prodigy, looking very embarrassed.

"So, Naruto-kun, what are you up to?" Rock Lee asked in polite curiosity.

"I was just getting back from the Hokage office building," Naruto explained, "I wanted to see what sort of missions were available for me, seeing as how I'm a jonin now. But Granny Tsunade said that there weren't any missions available for me to undertake." With a look of consideration on his face, Naruto added, "I also have the feeling that I forgot to do something very important, for some odd reason."

"You most certainly _have_ forgotten to do something very important, my good Naruto," Gai replied. With is left hand over his chest and his right hand held out to Naruto, Gai continued, "You have yet to accept Tenten's hand in marriage!"

"Wait, what?!" Tenten exclaimed.

"Tenten's actual father, for reasons we cannot disclose, is unfortunately not around," Gai went on, "As such, I have taken to standing in as a father figure for Tenten. Part of that duty requires me to find a suitable husband for my darling student to marry." With more confidence in his tone, Gai said, "And it is you, Naruto, who I would like to offer Tenten's hand in marriage to!"

"As…flattering as the offer is, Gai-sensei," Naruto began, "And with all due respect to Tenten, I'm going to have to politely decline." (3)

"How can you not accept Tenten's hand in marriage, Naruto-kun?!" Rock Lee exclaimed, "She is Gai-sensei's daughter in every way but blood! You should be honored!"

With the stares that he was receiving from the two Taijitsu masters, Naruto quickly turned to face Neji and said, "Neji, a little help here, please?"

"Naruto is just being respectful of my feelings, Gai-sensei," Neji began to explain.

A confused look on his face, Gai said, "What do you mean, Neji?"

An embarrassed look on his face, Neji said, "Naruto kinda…sorta…kinda knows about how I feel about Tenten."

The looks on the faces of the two Taijitsu masters were nothing short of stunned. Tenten, blushing with embarrassment, looked very much flustered. Naruto, for his part, looked confused. " _I did not see that coming_ ," Naruto thought honestly. (4)

* * *

Later that day during the lunch hour, Naruto was grabbing lunch with his friends Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi, along with Neji. Shikamaru, who was holding a clipboard in his left hand and a pen in his right hand, was writing something down on a sheet of paper attached to the clipboard, leaving a half-eaten burger and his drink ignored for the time being. Choji, who had just finished devouring his first burger, was getting started on his second when he pointed to Naruto's meal, which was just a large soda.

"I still don't understand why you didn't get anything to eat, Naruto," Choji remarked causally.

"I'm…not feeling all that hungry," Naruto replied.

"Ehh, that's understandable," Shikamaru said, "I mean, take a look at this." Turning around the clipboard he was holding, Shikamaru had revealed that he had written down a list of pairs of names; one name in each pair was that of a man in Konoha, and the other name of each pair was the name of a girl who was the daughter of the man that she was paired with. "You have so many men in Konoha wanting you to marry their daughters, that even Sasuke back when we were in the academy can't claim to have had so many options."

"That reminds me, Naruto," Choji remarked, "I'm sorry if my father was kind of pushy in wanting you to marry my cousin."

"What really caught me off guard was what Neji said to get me out of that situation with Gai-sensei trying to get me to marry Tenten," Naruto said.

"Yeah," Neji replied as he blushed mildly in embarrassment. Setting his chicken sandwich down, Neji said, "I've actually have those kind of feelings Tenten, and have been meaning to confess as such in a better setting. But with the stunt Gai-sensei pulled, I guess I sort of…panicked."

"Well _that_ ' _s_ putting it mildly," Shikamaru remarked with an amused smirk.

"So, Naruto," Choji began before tearing into his second burger, "Who are you going to pick?"

"I don't know," Naruto replied with a mildly unsure look on his face, "I'm not sure if I even want to marry any of the girls on the list." Taking a closer look at the list, Naruto added in a mildly bemused tone, "Or the one guy." With a quick glance at Shikamaru, the blonde jonin said, "Umm, no offence."

"I seriously have no idea why my father is so against the idea of me being in a relationship with a girl who isn't a naturally born citizen of the Land of Fire," Shikamaru remarked as he shook his head in shame.

"Well putting that all aside, you have your pick of practically every girl in Konoha," Choji said to Naruto as he took the list from Shikamaru, "You're like a kid in a candy store, man."

With a mildly somber smile, Naruto said, "I bet that, if he were still alive, Pervy Sage would try to be like an advisor of sorts to me in picking what girl I'd marry."

Nodding, Shikamaru said, "Yeah, that sounds like Lord Jiraiya, alright." (4)

Naruto took another sip from his drink as he contemplated his current situation. " _I_ ' _ve never really considered the idea of spending the rest of my life with some girl_ ," Naruto thought, " _I guess that mostly has to do with the fact that_ , _up until recently_ , _every girl regarded me with the same consideration with which they'd regard garbage_." At that moment, as if it was seemingly at random, something that Naruto heard someone say a couple of days back crossed his mind.

" _H_ - _h_ - _h_ - _he_ ' _s not m_ - _my boyfriend_! … _Although that would be really_ , _really nice_ , _now that you mention it_."

"Hey guys," Naruto said suddenly as he got up.

"What's up, Naruto?" Neji asked.

"I need to go clear my head a bit," Naruto replied, "You guys mind if I take off?"

"I'm guessing you want to weigh your options on your own a bit before you get back to business?" Shikamaru suggested.

"Something like that, yeah," the blonde jonin replied. Picking up his soda, Naruto drained the last of it as he stood there before walking over to the door, tossing his empty cup in the trash, and taking off.

* * *

As he walked through the village, his hands in his pockets, Naruto was considering the line that went through his head randomly back at the establishment he was at with Choji, Shikamaru and Neji. To be more specific, Naruto was thinking about Hinata Hyuga, the girl who had said that line. " _Does_ … _does Hinata really think that way about me_ …?" Naruto thought somberly. It was then that Naruto was suddenly struck by more memories he had of Hinata.

That time back when they were all students at the Leaf Village Ninja Academy, and Hinata had brought a bunch of snacks that she had intended to share with, and only with, Naruto. During their first go at the chunnin exams, Hinata risked herself by trying to offer letting Naruto copy off of her paper from the written portion, then she gave Naruto a thing of healing ointment after he defeated Kiba during the combat portion, then she gave him kind words of encouragement as he was worried about taking on Neji. Also, during the Fourth Great Ninja War, Hinata jumped in front of an assault to protect Naruto, even though she herself would have forfeited her life. Granted, Neji jumped in front of Hinata and was able to save all three of them thanks to blocking the assault with his Pod Shield, (5) but it's the thought that counts.

Then there all of the times that Hinata got flustered or red in the face or fainted, just because Naruto was in her immediate proximity; the blonde jonin, having remembered what Hinata said during that lunch with the other girls, finally had some reason for all of that behavior. Suddenly, Naruto stopped dead in his tracks as he remembered what Hinata did during Pain's attack on Konoha over a year and a half ago, specifically what Hinata said to him prior to charging at the head Pain.

" _That_ ' _s why I'm not afraid to die_ , _if it means I can protect you_. _Because_ , _Naruto_ - _kun_ , _I love you_."

"Oh, fancy running into you here, Naruto," a familiar voice called out, snapping Naruto out of his thoughts and making him look up from the ground. As such, Naruto saw the familiar face of Iruka Umino, an instructor over at the Leaf Village Ninja Academy. Naruto's somewhat somber expression lightened up somewhat when he saw his old teacher.

"Hey, Iruka-sensei," Naruto greeted.

"I heard you're a jonin now," Iruka began, "Congratulations, Naruto." With a bit of a chuckle, Iruka added, "I guess this means you outrank me now, huh?"

A small but sincere smile on his face, Naruto gently shook his head. "Yeah, I guess I do technically outrank you now," Naruto replied, "But as far as I really care, you're still my superior, Iruka-sensei."

An amused smile on his face, Iruka said, "Well if that's the case, then can I get you to help me with some cleaning out over at the academy? There's a load of boxes full of old assignments over in one of the old classrooms. I'm surprised that those boxes are still around, given that the academy had to be rebuilt due to Pain's attack on Konoha roughly a year and a half back." Shaking his head, Iruka said, "I swear that those boxes must have more endurance than the smooshed-together contents of a backpack that a child never cleans out."

Chuckling in good humor, Naruto said, "Sure, Iruka-sensei, I'll help you with the cleaning. Lead the way."

* * *

Over at the Leaf Village Ninja Academy, Naruto was carrying a box from a closet in a classroom over to one of the desks. "Hey Naruto, take a look at this," Iruka called out, getting the blonde jonin to turn and look. Naruto saw Iruka shift through a number of old assignments from the open box that he had on another desk somewhere in the classroom.

"Do you remember the assignment I gave back when you and your friends were all still students here," Iruka began with a mildly amused smile, "Where I asked you all if the world was going to end tomorrow, who would you want to spend your last day with? Well, I just found all of those assignments."

"Yeah, I remember that assignment," Naruto replied, "Sorry about turning my assignment into a paper airplane and tossing it out a window. I…didn't really have anyone to put down back then."

Smiling in a sympathetic manner, Iruka said, "Yeah, I kind of figured that was the case. Sorry about chewing you out over that. I guess the assignment might have hit something of a sore spot on you."

"Nah, it's nothing to worry about," Naruto replied, "It's in the past anyway." As Iruka looked through the assignments, he stopped on one and let out a snort of laughter. Walking over to look over his sensei's shoulder to see what was so funny, Naruto saw that Iruka had found Sasuke's paper from the assignment. Surprisingly, there was a two-way tie between who Sasuke would want to spend his last day with; his mother Mikoto and his older brother Itachi. (6)

Putting all of the assignments from the box into a neat stack, Iruka said as he got up from his seat, "Well this trip down memory lane has certainly been rather fun, but we really should-"

"There you are, Big Bro!" Konohamaru called out randomly, startling Iruka into dropping the stack of assignments he was holding, spilling them all over the floor. Naruto and Iruka both turned to see Konohamaru standing there in the doorway. "Did you tell Granny Tsunade about the stalker yet?" Konohamaru asked.

"Damn it, that's what I was forgetting earlier!" Naruto exclaimed. Shaking his head, Naruto replied, "I'm sorry, Konohamaru, but it completely slipped my mind."

"You could have knocked instead of calling out suddenly, you know," Iruka said to Konohamaru in a scolding tone as the chunnin instructor bent down to pick up the spilled assignments, "Darn near scared the life out of me, Konohamaru."

"Here, let me help you with this, Iruka-sensei," Naruto said as he bent down to assist with cleaning up the mess. As he and Iruka picked up assignment after assignment, Naruto came across Hinata's paper from the assignment on who she'd want to spend her last day with. What Naruto saw made him pause.

Hinata had only put down one person that she'd want to spend her last day with, and that person was Naruto.

Just as Iruka and Konohamaru both noticed that Naruto was looking at one of the spilled assignments that he had picked up, Konohamaru cried out in surprise, making Naruto and Iruka both look up and see that Konohamaru had been pushed into the classroom rather hastily by Neji and Ko Hyuga, apparently too preoccupied with whatever they doing to show much concern for their surroundings. "There you are, Naruto!" Ko said as he and Neji entered the classroom.

"The two of you just shoved Konohamaru to the side as you entered," Naruto pointed out dryly.

"Neji and I are sorry about that, but we're kind of on a job here," Ko replied as Neji went about helping Konohamaru up off the floor, "Specifically, to find you. Lord Hiashi wishes to see you."

"Why would Neji's uncle, of all people, want to see Naruto?" Iruka asked in a confused manner.

"Iruka-sensei," Neji began, "Have you heard about what happened during the Chunnin Tournament, during Lady Hinata's match against Kiba?"

"Yeah, I actually saw a video recording of that match, and every other match from the Chunnin Tournament as well," Iruka replied, "Other than Naruto's match against Kiba, which I saw in the stadium live. Although after the tournament, I made a DVD with all of the matches recorded on it. Students I have at the academy currently have been begging me to show it in class, but with how brutal some of those matches are, I'm doubting that showing it in class is a good idea." (7)

"Ko and I suspect that Lord Hiashi wants to personally congratulate Naruto for his victory against Kiba," Neji went on, "Especially since it happened after what Kiba did to Lady Hinata."

"Will you come with us, Naruto?" Ko asked.

After thinking about it for a few seconds, Naruto replied, "Alright, I'll come with you guys. Just let me finish helping Iruka-sensei clean up this mess." Both cadet Hyugas nodded respectfully, then went to wait outside of the classroom, with Konohamaru following them out. After about a minute, Naruto and Iruka got all of the assignments cleaned up off of the floor. When that was done, Iruka said that he'd get the papers reorganized on his own, allowing Naruto to take his leave to go with Neji and Ko.

* * *

"Ah, Naruto, there you are," Hiashi Hyuga, the leader of the Hyuga clan, greeted in a friendly tone as Naruto walked into his study over at the Hyuga clan's estate with Neji and Ko. The blonde jonin and the two cadet Hyugas found the Hyuga lord seated at his desk in the study.

"Neji and Ko told me something about you wanting to congratulate me for winning the Chunnin Tournament?" Naruto began in a mildly unsure tone.

"Ah yes, that," Hiashi replied, "You winning the Chunnin Tournament has made you the talk of not only Konoha, but the Land of Fire as a whole, as well as major foreign villages not currently acting hostile towards everyone else. People are especially happy as your final win in the tournament was against Tsume Inuzuka's son, who had made a less-than-flattering reputation for himself due to how brutally he beat his other opponents." Sighing in a regretful (and mildly upset) tone, Hiashi added, "Particularly Hinata. Let me tell you, the elders of the Hyuga clan are NOT happy with what happened."

"I can imagine," Naruto replied.

"I myself am not fond of what happened," Hiashi went on, "Granted, Hinata survived her ordeal, was treated at the hospital, released from the hospital this morning and is now recovering here at home. But none of that changes the fact that my first-born daughter was very nearly killed."

"What happened to Lady Hinata has caused no small amount of grief for the rest of the Hyuga clan as a whole," Ko said as he turned to face Naruto, "Hence why the Hyuga clan was particularly elated when you won that match against Inuzuka." With a knowing smirk, Ko added, "Some of the Hyuga clan elders, hearing that you're currently Konoha's most eligible bachelor, have expressed an interest in making you a member of the Hyuga clan."

"Huh?" Naruto replied with a shocked and confused look on his face, "They actually said that?! You guys can do that?! How?!"

"Yes, I would like to know what's going on as well," Neji added.

"The clan elders that Ko speaks of proposed an idea to me that, the more I think about it, sounds very much appealing to me," Hiashi explained to his nephew. Turning to face Naruto, Hiashi said, "Naruto, I would like for you to marry my daughter Hinata."

Sighing in an unamused tone, Neji said, "I'll call Shikamaru so I can have him add you to the list, sir."

Regarding his nephew with a confused look, Hiashi said, "What are you talking about, Neji?"

"With all due respect, Lord Hiashi," Neji explained, "You are far from the first father who's asked Naruto to marry their daughter. Shikamaru, Choji and I have had to write up a list to keep track of all of the marriage offers Naruto has received. To say that the late Lord Jiraiya would have been proud of Naruto would be an understatement."

"From what I heard," Ko began as he spoke to the Hyuga clan leader, "There's fifty-seven fathers, counting you, offering their daughters in marriage to Naruto, twenty-two uncles offering nieces, eight grandfathers offering granddaughters, eleven granduncles offering grandnieces, two brothers offering sisters, Might Gai offering his student Tenten, and Shikaku Nara offering his son Shikamaru." Neji nodded in agreement with his fellow cadet Hyuga.

"I…see that I have my work cut out for me," Hiashi replied, shocked that he has so much competition. During the entirety of the talk between the three Hyuga right after Hiashi made the offer to Naruto, the blonde jonin had a quick flashback to all of the times he was thinking about earlier, all of the times when Hinata proved herself as the one exception, the one girl who had NEVER regarded Naruto as if he was nothing.

" _Because_ , _Naruto_ - _kun_ , _I love you_."

"I seriously have no idea why Shikaku would be so adamant about his son being with a natural born citizen of the Land of Fire," Hiashi remarked to Ko and Neji as Naruto was still deep in thought, "He does realize that his son is an item with the older sister of Sunagakure's current Kazekage, doesn't he?"

"Hey, Mr. Hyuga," Naruto began suddenly, getting the attention of everyone else in the room.

"Hmm?" Hiashi said, "What is it, Naruto?"

His eyes closed, Naruto inhaled and exhaled before opening his eyes again to look at the Hyuga clan lord. "…I'll do it," Naruto stated firmly, never having been more sure about anything else in his life.

"You'll accept Hinata as your wife?" Hiashi asked, surprised by how Naruto replied to his request. Ko and Neji were likewise surprised as well.

"Assuming, of course, that Hinata's okay with the idea as well," Naruto replied, "I wouldn't feel right if she was being forced into something that she wasn't okay with."

Smiling, Hiashi said, "I'll let her know, then. In the meantime, I don't suppose I can offer you a refreshment of some kind?"

"Lord Hiashi has this amazing aged bourbon," Ko remarked.

"One, Naruto is too young to drink," Hiashi began, "Two, how would you know how amazing my bourbon is, especially considering the fact that I hardly ever break it out, as I prefer to save it for special occasions?"

"Harold Fisher, Inoichi Yamanaka and Tsume Inuzuka gave some to me the last time they were here," Ko explained with a shrug, "I have no idea where they found it, though." (8) Sighing, Hiashi only face-palmed.

"Ko, Neji, just take Naruto to the kitchen and get him some soda, or something," Hiashi said in a defeated tone.

* * *

Down in the kitchen area of the Hyuga clan estate, Naruto was talking with Ko and Neji. "So, Naruto," Ko began, "Of all the girls in Konoha that have been offered to you in marriage, you've chosen Lady Hinata."

"I'm just wondering what Hinata will have to say," Naruto remarked to the two cadet Hyugas as he sat an empty glass down on the counter, "I mean, does she want to marry me?" At that moment, Naruto felt a gentle tapping on his right shoulder, making him turn around. To Naruto's surprise, Hinata wrapped her arms around Naruto (her arms were under his), resting the side of her head against Naruto's chest so that she faced the counter; this way, neither Ko or Neji could see Hinata's face. Her eyes closed as tears came down the sides of her face, Hinata softly said her answer.

"Yes. I do."

END, BEFORE THE REDEMPTION CHAPTER SIX

Author's Notes:

(1) Thus, Ino's reaction is explained.

(2) For more than Inoichi knows at the moment.

(3) Kurama is, to put things mildly, not all that fond of Tenten.

(4) You gotta admit that this would have been right up Jiraiya's ally.

(5) Technology rules!

(6) Young Sasuke had trouble connecting with his dad.

(7) Mostly due to the matches in which Kiba took part.

(8) They raided Hiashi's liquor cabinet; doing so was Tsume's idea.

Well there's chapter six done and over with. The next chapter will finally get to the issue with the potential stalker that has been following around Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi over the past couple of chapters. …I wonder if anyone has figured out who it's going to be yet?


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any properties in this work that I did not make myself.

Before the redemption

Chapter seven: Painfully Shy

Hinata Hyuga woke up with a start early (like around four-thirty or so) one morning in the village of Konohagakure. The Hyuga chunnin whished that she hadn't woken up, though; she was having the most wonderful dream. In the dream, Naruto Uzumaki, the boy who Hinata had been in love with for as long as she could remember, had asked if she had wanted to marry him. Naturally, Hinata said yes, and the two became engaged.

Hinata was about to kiss Naruto, too, but that's the point when she woke up. "Aww," Hinata muttered to herself sadly as she realized that she had just woken up, "It was just a dream. But it was a nice one." Hinata was just about to go back to sleep in hopes of recapturing that dream, when there was a knock at her bedroom door.

"Are you decent, Lady Hinata?" the voice of Ko Hyuga, a member of the Hyuga clan's cadet branch, called through the bedroom door.

"Yes," Hinata called back in a tired tone. Having heard Hinata's response, Ko opened the door, saw the tired look on the face of the girl who he had been the nanny of for as long as he could remember.

"I apologize if I had woken you up, Lady Hinata," Ko remarked, "But there had been an emergency with one of the Hyuga clan's elders. He has just been rushed to the hospital."

"What?" Hinata asked in an alarmed and worried tone, "Will he be okay?"

"It's iffy at the moment," Ko replied honestly, "He was experiencing pains that made him collapse as he tried to get out of bed. According to what I heard after he was taken to Konoha General, he's having kidney problems."

"Oh dear, I hope he gets better soon," Hinata remarked worriedly.

"Konoha General has the best medical shinobi in the five great nations, Lady Hinata," Ko said, "Our clan's elder is in good hands." As he closed the door, Ko said, "Sorry again if I had woken you up, Lady Hinata."

"I had actually woken up a bit before you knocked on my door, Ko," Hinata replied in a kind tone, "Although I was having a very nice dream."

"A nice dream, you say?" Ko repeated in a curious tone, "Mind telling me?"

"Oh, you're going to think it's silly, Ko," Hinata said.

"Meh, can't be any weirder than the dream I was having before I was woken up and told the news concerning the clan elder," Ko replied with a shrug. (1)

"Umm, well," Hinata began in an unsure tone as she started blushing, "You know Naruto, right? The boy I have been in love with for as long as I could remember? Well, I was dreaming that he proposed to me and that we had gotten engaged."

With a somewhat amused smile on his face, Ko replied, "That…actually wasn't a dream, Lady Hinata. You really _are_ engaged to Naruto. In fact, it happened…" Ko stopped short to take a quick look at the old-fashioned-looking digital clock on Hinata's nightstand. "…Yesterday evening," Ko finished, "About eight hours ago, in fact."

"…Huh?" Hinata said, unable to process what Ko was saying.

"Technically, Naruto didn't actually propose to you," Ko explained, "Your father had offered Naruto your hand in marriage, just like countless other fathers did for their daughters all across Konoha due to how much of a name Naruto had made for himself as of late. Naruto accepted your father's offer and was worrying if you'd be okay with the idea of-"

Ko stopped midsentence when he suddenly saw Hinata fall back onto her pillows, having fainted. "Oi! Lady Hinata!" Ko said worriedly as he ran forward, giving Hinata's left shoulder a gentle shake, "Are you alright, Lady Hinata? You were just released from the hospital yesterday, so it'd be really bad if you had to go back so soon, especially considering one of the Hyuga clan elders was just taken there!" Hinata, despite having fainted, was actually perfectly fine.

Hinata's dream had actually come true, after all.

* * *

Later in the morning at around ten or so, Hinata was sitting on a bench in a local park, a picnic basket sitting on the bench next to her. Hinata was also wearing a different outfit than normal this day, too; the Hyuga chunnin wore a pink t-shirt over a light-gray long-sleeved shirt, and over that Hinata wore a long-sleeved lavender coat which ended a little bit past her knees. Hinata also wore a pale light-green skirt that ended roughly halfway down her shins, and a pair of shinobi pants under that; the pants ended about an inch lower than the skirt. Hinata wore her shinobi sandals on her feet; to complete her outfit, Hinata wore her Konoha ninja headband, around her neck as always. (2)

Hinata had brought along a book to read to pass the time; it was a fantasy book based off of a popular tabletop RPG game called 'Mage Land'. Hinata had always loved reading these 'Mage Land' books, ever since she was little; her teachers back at the academy were amazed that Hinata was reading at such a high reading level. (3)

As Hinata sat on the bench in the public park, she heard a familiar voice call out, "Oi, Hinata!" Hearing this voice, Hinata smiled gently, placed a bookmark in the book to keep her place, got up and turned to face the owner of the voice that had called out. The Hyuga chunnin was met up by Naruto Uzumaki, the person that she had been waiting for.

The Jinchuriki with spiky, long blonde hair had been making quite a name for himself recently, what with all of the missions he had been doing and having recently won a combat tournament hosted by Lady Tsunade, the fifth and current Hokage, in an attempt to advertise Konoha's finest chunnin to potential clients. In fact, after winning this tournament, Naruto was promoted to jonin, which made his reputation go up even more. Many fathers all over Konoha had offered their daughters in marriage to Naruto; Hinata's father, Hiashi, was one such father, having offered Hinata's hand in marriage to Naruto, an offer that Naruto accepted.

Hinata did hear that Naruto, due to how many fathers in Konoha wanted him to marry their daughters, was pretty much given his pick of any girl in Konoha. And yet Naruto had chosen her.

 _Her_.

Hinata could not help it that, as she was thinking about this, her eyes were watering up a bit. Seeing that there were tears in Hinata's eyes, Naruto's expression became mildly concerned. "Hey, Hinata," Naruto began as he came up to her, "Are you okay? Why are you crying?"

"Oh, I was just thinking about last night, is all," Hinata replied, as gently as always, as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

Smiling gently, Naruto said, "For a second there, I was worried that I had done something to upset you." Gently shaking his head, causing his long golden spikes to sway back and forth, Naruto continued, "I'd hate to have done something to make my fiancé upset with me."

Suddenly, Hinata started giggling. "…Did I say something funny?" the blonde jonin asked, regarding Hinata with a confused look.

"I'm sorry, Naruto," Hinata replied as her giggling died down somewhat, "It's just that hearing you refer to me as your fiancé really made me happy." Her giggling having died down completely, Hinata looked Naruto right in the eyes. "This is really happening," Hinata said in her usual gentle tone, "I'm still having trouble believing it, though."

Smiling gently himself, Naruto said, "Well you better believe it, Hinata." His eyes wandering over to the bench he saw Hinata sitting on, Naruto spotted the picnic basket. "What's that all about?" Naruto asked in a curious manner, pointing to the picnic basket.

"Oh!" Hinata said suddenly, turning around to make a quick dash to the bench to retrieve the basket, "I thought that, for our first date, we'd have a picnic in the park." Looking mildly unsure, Hinata added, "Umm, if you have the time, of course."

"I actually have all day," Naruto replied, "Granny Tsunade said that the only mission she had that she would have given to me was already taken by Mr. Fisher, Mr. Yamanaka, Mrs. Inuzuka and Kuromaru, and that's just because it involved checking out something over at a brewery in the Land of Hot Water. She said that all of the other missions were run of the mill beginner missions for genin fresh out of the academy, and that she didn't expect me to go on any of those unless I suddenly became a jonin instructor."

Smiling, Hinata said, "Well, I bet that you would make one great jonin instructor, Naruto." With a giggle, Hinata continued, "I can already imagine a group of genin referring to you as 'Naruto-sensei'."

With a smile, the blonde jonin said, "That _does_ have a nice ring to it, now that you-"

"Big Bro!" the familiar voice of Konohamaru called out, cutting Naruto off and making him and Hinata turn to face the direction it came from. As such, they saw Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi come running up to them. "Hey, Big Bro," Konohamaru said in a worried tone, "Udon, Moegi and I think that the-"

Konohamaru, along with Udon and Moegi, took pause when they noticed Hinata with Naruto, giving the Hyuga chunnin some consideration. "Hey Big Bro, who is this?" Udon asked.

"Oh, this is Hinata," Naruto replied as he introduced his fiancé to the three genin who saw Naruto as a big brother figure, "Hinata and I are…going out." Naruto did not say that he and Hinata were engaged, as Hinata wanted to wait and spring the news during a large gathering of all of their friends. (4) The respective reactions from Udon, Moegi and Konohamaru were varied, although Naruto didn't really appreciate the reaction from Moegi.

"She looks like a really nice girl, Big Bro."

"Ehh, she looks kinda plain compared to the last girl you had a crush on." (5)

"She's at least a solid eight, Big Bro."

"So…what did you all need to see me for?" Naruto asked in a dry monotone, resisting the urge to give Moegi a good bop on the head.

"Oh yeah," Konohamaru said as his mind got back on track, "The stalker is at it again, Big Bro!"

"A stalker?" Hinata repeated in an alarmed tone.

"Oh yeah," Naruto said as he turned to face Hinata, "Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi have been complaining to me that someone is apparently stalking them. It's got them rattled, to say the least."

"You gotta help us, Big Bro," Konohamaru said in a worried tone, "Udon, Moegi and I don't know how much more of this we can take!"

Sighing, Naruto said, "Alright, I'll help you all." Turing to regard his fiancé, Naruto said, "Looks like our picnic date will have to wait, I'm afraid."

Shaking her head gently, Hinata replied, "It's no trouble at all, Naruto. In fact, I was going to offer to help as well."

To the genin, Naruto said, "Alright Konohamaru, Udon, Moegi. Lead the way."

* * *

A short while later, Naruto, Hinata and the genin were at the training grounds for practicing the use of throwing weapons such as shuriken. "This is where we usually feel that we're being watched the most, Big Bro," Konohamaru said in a nervous tone as he and his friends looked around timidly.

"Hmm…" Naruto remarked as he took a quick glance around. As he looked around, Naruto started up his ability to sense out nearby chakras, to see if he can find anything. While Naruto was doing this, Hinata activated her Byakugan to assist Naruto with the search.

"Do you see anything, Hinata?" Naruto asked.

"Not yet," Hinata replied with a gentle shake of her head, "If there is someone watching the genin in secret, they're doing a really good job at-"

Hinata stopped short when Naruto suddenly took off running in the direction diagonal from Udon's left shoulder. "Big Bro must have sensed someone!" Konohamaru remarked confidently as he pumped a fist, "The stalker has been-"

"AHHHHH!" a young female voice called out in surprise, cutting off Konohamaru. Hinata and the three genin were surprised when they had heard the cry; Hinata was especially surprised, as she recognized the voice that cried out, having heard it many times before.

With the three genin following her, Hinata dashed off in the direction Naruto took off in. Within a few seconds, Hinata and the three genin came upon the sight of a girl crouching down in a fetal position, her hands over her head; Naruto stood a few feet in front of the girl. The girl wore a dark sleeveless shirt and pants of a similar color, a tan jacket vest, shinobi sandals, and white bindings around both her ankles and her wrists. The girl's hair was black and cut in a sort-of bob style.

Turning to face Hinata and the genin, Naruto said, "Umm, I found her."

"So, it was you!" Konohamaru exclaimed self-righteously as he pointed at the girl, "You're the one who's been creeping me and my friends out!"

"I'm sorry!" the girl cried out, still huddled up and not looking up, "I wasn't trying to creep anyone out! I was just too nervous to walk over and talk to Glasses Boy because he's always with you two and I'm no good with crowds and-"

"Wait, Glasses Boy?" Konohamaru interrupted in a confused tone, "You mean Udon?"

"I didn't know his name because I was too nervous to approach him and ask!" the girl cried out as she started actually crying, "I'm really sorry!"

Sighing in a knowing tone, Naruto said, "Konohamaru, Udon, Moegi."

"Yeah, Big Bro?" Moegi asked.

"I believe that there's a few things that all six of us need to go over," Naruto explained as he gestured to himself and everyone else that was present, "The main one being that the three of you were never in any actual danger. All that there was is just a shy girl who was too nervous about approaching you three because she wanted to be friends."

"Oh, really?" Moegi remarked as her tone sounded much more relieved than it had been in a while, "Whew, that's a load off my toad."

"I think that there might be a bit more to it than that, Naruto," Hinata remarked to her fiancé, a small, amused smile on her face. When Hinata spoke, the crouching girl, who had been shaking ever since Hinata and the genin arrived on the scene, stopped shaking the instant she heard Hinata's voice.

"…Onee-sama?" the girl said in a confused tone as she slowly got up.

Nodding gently, Hinata said, "Yes, Hanabi, it's me."

* * *

A short while later, Naruto and the others were standing near the bench where Naruto had met up with Hinata previously. Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi stood in front of Naruto and Hinata. Hanabi Hyuga, the girl who had been following Konohamaru and his friends around in secret over the last few days, stood between Naruto and Hinata. "…So," Konohamaru began as he gave the Hyuga genin a look of consideration, "You just wanted to hang with us, but was too scared to approach and ask, so you took to following us around in secret."

"I'm sorry!" Hanabi exclaimed in a flustered manner, bowing her head so quickly and with so much effort that she almost lost balance and fell over onto her face. Naruto gently grabbed Hanabi's right shoulder with his left hand to keep her from falling over.

"Well there was no need to be all nervous like that," Moegi remarked with a kind smile, "Hell, I'd gladly welcome another girl to our group! I'm getting tired of being outnumbered by boys."

"Wait, I think said something about me specifically," Udon said in a curious tone. To Hanabi, Udon said, "Didn't you call me Glasses Boy, or something?"

"I didn't know your name until your friend said it!" Hanabi said hastily and in a tone which suggested Hanabi was afraid that she had offended Udon, "I'm sorry!"

"It's okay," Udon replied as he tried to reassure the panicking Hyuga genin, "There's no need to be so upset."

"Yeah, I think Udon has a point," Konohamaru said to Hanabi, "You did mention him specifically when Big Bro caught you. What, do you, like, have a crush on Udon or something?"

"Heh," Moegi laughed, "That's a good one, Konohamaru! Like any girl in her right mind would seriously have a crush on a dorky looking guy like Udon."

"Gee, thanks a lot, Moegi," Udon remarked in a sarcastic tone.

To Hanabi, Moegi said, "Seriously, though. Why _did_ you mention Udon specifically?"

"Well," Hanabi began in a nervous tone as she started blushing profusely, poking the tips of her index fingers together, "Well, I, err, umm, you see, I, umm… I do have a crush on him."

"…What?" Moegi said in a dry, confused tone.

"Aww," Hinata remarked, "This is so cute! My little sister has finally started looking at boys!"

"…What?" Moegi repeated in the same dry, confused tone as before.

"Well alright, Udon!" Konohamaru said in a congratulatory tone as he gave his friend a congratulatory shake of his shoulder, "A girl likes you! And she's a cute one, too! Way to go!"

"… _What_?!" Moegi said for a third time, but with a little bit more emphasis.

"I'm actually not used to this," Udon remarked honestly, "I mean, I never really saw myself as the kind of guy that a girl would actually like."

"Nonsense!" Hanabi insisted, "In fact, I'm both surprised and lucky that there haven't been any girls that have taken an interest in you yet!"

"… _WHAT_?!" Moegi exclaimed. (6)

* * *

Another short while later, after Naruto and Hinata took off to try and have a proper date with each other, Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi returned to the throwing weapons training grounds with Hanabi. "So, Bunny," Moegi began when she turned to face Hanabi.

"Hanabi," the Hyuga genin corrected.

"Whatever," Moegi replied in an indifferent tone, "So Fireworks, if you're going to be rolling with the boys and I, there are a few rules that you need to be made aware of."

"A few rules?" Hanabi repeated in a curious tone.

"Rule number one," Moegi began as she held up fingers to count off the supposed 'rules', "I'm the leader of our group."

"Umm," Hanabi said in an unsure tone, "I was sort-of under the impression that Konohamaru was the leader of your group."

"I was until my grandfather died in the Konoha Crush a few years ago," Konohamaru remarked, "After that, I was kind-of too upset to function properly for a while, so Moegi took over as group leader. And she's been leading us ever since."

"Rule number two," Moegi continued as she held up another finger, "Every Friday is Snack Day, where one member of our group brings snacks for all of us to share. Girls get first crack at the snacks, as girls get to go before boys."

"This meant that Moegi always gets to go first," Konohamaru pointed out to Hanabi, "As she was the only girl in our group prior to you joining us."

"Wait, Konohamaru raises a valid point," Udon said to Moegi, "Since there are two girls in our group now, which one gets first crack at the snacks on Snack Day? Or will both of you go at the same time?"

"I still get to go first, as I am group leader," Moegi explained to Udon, "Flowers here goes after me, then either you or Konohamaru follows afterword."

"My name isn't Flowers," Hanabi remarked somewhat nervously.

"Wait, today is Friday!" Konohamaru pointed out, "Who's turn is it to get the snacks?"

"Today is supposed to be your turn, Konohamaru," Moegi explained, "As we go in alphabetical order according to first name, and Udon provided the snacks last time." Pointing to Hanabi, Moegi continued as she spoke to Konohamaru, "However, since we have a new group member, and her first name comes before yours alphabetically, she can get the snacks this time."

"Do any of you want something specific?" Hanabi asked.

"It's best to get multiples of identical snacks," Konohamaru advised the Hyuga genin, "If you get anything special or unique, Moegi will lay claim to it first."

"He's got that right," Moegi stated somewhat smugly, "It's my prerogative as group leader."

" _Well there goes my plan to get something special for Udon_ ," Hanabi thought. Out loud, Hanabi said, "Alright, I'll head over to a store and buy some snacks. I'll be right back." With that, the Hyuga genin took off.

…

A few minutes after running off to buy some snacks, Hanabi returned to the throwing weapons training grounds; she held in her right hand a grocery bag that contained four snack-sized bags of mini chocolate chip cookies and four cans of cola. Upon reaching the throwing weapons training grounds, Hanabi saw that a jonin instructor was about to give Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi a lecture. It was an educational lesson lecture rather than one that is given to a child who got in trouble. The jonin wore the standard Konoha shinobi outfit minus the flask jacket, a bandana-style Konoha shinobi headband, and a pair of circular shades.

"Now that we're all here," the jonin said to the three genin, "I can start the lecture."

"Hello?" Hanabi called out, getting the attention of the jonin instructor and the three genin.

Seeing Hanabi, Moegi said, "Ah ha, the new girl's come back with the snacks!"

"Who is this jonin that's talking to you guys?" Hanabi asked in a friendly, curious tone as she pointed to the jonin.

"This is Ebisu-sensei," Konohamaru explained, "He's the jonin instructor that's been assigned to teach Moegi, Udon and me."

"Oh dear," Hanabi replied in a worried tone, "I hope I wasn't interrupting a lesson."

"No need to worry, young lady," Ebisu assured the Hyuga genin in a kind tone, "In fact, I was just about to start a lecture before you came here." Arching an eyebrow in curiosity, Ebisu said, "Say, young lady, you have the Byakugan. I take it you belong to Konoha's Hyuga clan?"

Nodding in the affirmative, Hanabi said, "Yes, I belong to the Hyuga clan."

"Aha!" Ebisu remarked in a pleased tone, "Then you of all people will be perfect to have join us as a guest member today!"

* * *

Ebisu spent the next half hour talking off the respective ears of Konohamaru, Udon, Moegi and Hanabi. Over the course of that half hour, the four genin consumed the cookies and sodas that Hanabi got. "…And so," Ebisu said as he wrapped up his lecture, "If any of you four see a member of the Inuzuka clan in the streets of Konoha as you are out and walking about, I want you to turn around and run as far and fast as you can in the opposite direction. Those dogs are nothing short of complete and total monsters."

"Ebisu-sensei, that all was just a bunch of negative stereotypes perpetrated by Konoha's small-minded one percent and easily influenced villagers," Moegi remarked. Turning to face Hanabi, Moegi said, "Isn't that right, New Girl?"

"My older sister was nearly killed by a member of the Inuzuka clan during the Chunnin Tournament a while ago," Hanabi remarked in a mildly bitter tone.

"Hmm," Ebisu said as he held a hand to his chin, "The only Hyuga clan member who competed in the Chunnin Tournament was Hinata, the first-born daughter of the Hyuga clan's leader, Lord Hiashi."

"I'm his second-born daughter," Hanabi stated.

"Egad!" Ebisu exclaimed out of shock, "I knew that you were part of one of Konoha's noble clans, but to be such an important member of that clan! Truly you grace us with your presence!"

"It's, umm," Hanabi replied in an embarrassed manner, "Not all that big a deal, Ebisu-sensei."

"No need to be so formal with me, young lady," Ebisu said, "In fact, we should be referring to you in the respectful manner that is afforded to you!"

"No, no, that really isn't necessary," Hanabi said insistently, her embarrassed blushing growing even more.

"You are a modest one, young lady," Ebisu remarked in an impressed tone, "Konoha is all the more better off to have humble personages of high prestige such as you!" To the four genin as a whole, Ebisu said, "Well kids, the lecture is over, so I'll be taking my leave now. Have a good day!" And with that, Ebisu turned around and took his leave.

After Ebisu was gone, Moegi turned to face Hanabi. "Ebisu-sensei having shown up brings us to rule number three," Moegi said to the Hyuga genin, "When he's around, we all do whatever he says."

"Because he's the jonin sensei?" Hanabi asked.

"Because he's one of those annoying, by-the-book kinds of guys and it's best to just humor him," Moegi clarified, "It'll save so many headaches in the long run."

"He's won Konoha's Brownnoser-of-the-year award six years running," Konohamaru stated as he raised an index finger. (7)

"Speaking of the Chunnin Tournament," Moegi said with a mischievous grin. Heading over to her backpack, which laid on the ground at the base of a shuriken target, Moegi unzipped it and pulled out a case containing a DVD.

"I managed to swipe the DVD that Iruka-sensei made that has recordings of all of the matches from the Chunnin Tournament on it," Moegi continued, "Who wants to head over to Udon's place and watch it?"

"Why Udon's place?" Konohamaru asked.

"Because my foster mother thought that our DVD player broke when she couldn't get it to open with the DVD player's remote," Moegi explained, "So she took a four-iron golf club to the DVD player. As it turned out, the DVD player's remote just needed new batteries."

"Wait a minute," Udon said. Turning to face Hanabi, Udon asked, "Didn't you say that your older sister was nearly killed in the Chunnin Tournament?"

"Yeah," Hanabi replied in a sad tone.

To Konohamaru and Moegi, Udon said, "If Hanabi is going to join us, then I think we should skip the fight where her older sister almost gets killed, because I'm pretty sure that watching that fight would freak her out." Hanabi smiled at the consideration that the boy she has a crush on is showing her; it was small but sincere, and actually kind of cute.

"…Fine," Moegi replied, "I'll just watch that match on my own at a later time. I'm actually looking forward to watching all of Big Bro's wins, anyway."

* * *

The four genin watched all of the matches on the DVD that Moegi swiped from Iruka, save for the Hinata-versus-Kiba match which Moegi skipped at Udon's suggestion. "Woah, that was awesome!" Konohamaru exclaimed excitedly, "Big Bro is really awesome!"

"It's kind of annoying that we had to skip one of the matches because it would have otherwise freaked the new girl out," Moegi remarked, "But then again, I'd probably want to skip watching a match in which Big Bro nearly gets killed. Not like that would ever happen, of course, given how OP Big Bro is."

"So Hanabi," Konohamaru began when he turned to face the Hyuga genin, "Now that you had a taste of what it's like to roll with our group, what do you think?"

"Are there any more rules I have to be made aware of?" Hanabi asked.

"There is one more rule, now that you mention it," Moegi replied, "Rule number four is that whenever Big Bro is around, we all do whatever he says."

"Unlike doing whatever Ebisu-sensei says because it's best to just humor him," Konohamaru explained, "We do whatever Big Bro says because he actually deserves our respect. Also, if Ebisu-sensei and Big Bro both gives us different orders at the same time, Big Bro's orders get priority."

"Hey, now that Big Bro is a jonin, you think we can get Lady Fifth to replace Ebisu-sensei with Big Bro as our jonin instructor?" Udon suggested.

"Oh, that would be so cool!" Moegi said, "Then we wouldn't have to deal with an annoying brownnoser anymore!"

"Let's ask Lady Fifth if she'll consider it," Konohamaru replied.

"Actually, I think that he's going to be busy for a while," Hanabi replied.

Turning to face the Hyuga genin, Moegi said, "What do you mean, new girl?"

"My father told me that Naruto is going to be doing something for the Hyuga clan," Hanabi explained, "And as such, he'll be too occupied to lead a group of genin. My father didn't go into much detail, though." (8)

"Well darn," Moegi replied, snapping her fingers in a disappointed manner. After putting the DVD that she had swiped from Iruka back into its case, Moegi said, "Well anywho you guys, I have to go put this back before Iruka-sensei finds out that I stole it."

At that moment, there was a knock at the door, which Udon answered (they were all at Udon's place, after all). Opening the door, he was greeted by the sight of a stern-looking Iruka Umino; standing behind him was Kiba Inuzuka, accompanied by his (Kiba's) loyal Ninkin Akamaru. "I had to get Kiba and his dog to help me find whoever swiped the DVD I made of all of the matches from the Chunnin Tournament," Iruka began in a stern tone as Akamaru walked up to sniff at the bespectacled genin, "Udon, would you care to explain to me why they led me-" Iruka was cut off when Akamaru woofed a few times.

"Akamaru says that this kid doesn't have the smell he picked up from your desk, Iruka-sensei," Kiba stated, "But Akamaru also said that he still smells the scent that he picked up."

"Yeah, Moegi took it and was showing it to us, Iruka-sensei," Udon explained as Konohamaru and Moegi came to the front door, with Moegi wearing an expression of worry and shame. Akamaru then approached Moegi and sniffed at her a few times before turning to face Kiba and woof a few times.

"Akamaru says that the girl's scent matches," Kiba informed the chunnin instructor.

"Moegi, why would you swipe the DVD?" Iruka asked in a stern-yet-gentle tone.

"Well maybe if-" Moegi said, but she was cut off when Hanabi ran forward and swung her right foot right up into Kiba's groin, scoring a critical hit. Kiba, his hands covering his vulnerable area, fell over and laid on the front patio of Udon's family's house; Akamaru, his tail between his legs, slowly backed up while whimpering out of mild fear.

"This is for trying to kill Onee-sama, you monster!" Hanabi yelled angrily as she repeatedly stomped on Kiba; due to him rolling over, most of the stomps Kiba took hit his back. Iruka had to grab Hanabi in a full nelson and pick her up in order to get her to stop stomping on the downed Inuzuka chunnin.

"Kiba wasn't in his right mind when he did that, Hanabi!" Iruka said as he struggled to keep a hold on the flailing Hyuga genin, "His mom and some other adults managed to snap him back to normal!"

"Ugh," Kiba moaned in a knowing tone while doubled over pain, "Yeah, I pretty much have this coming."

* * *

The next day, as Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi had met up with each other, they were soon joined by Hanabi. "So, did anything come of you kicking that Kiba guy in his hidden treasure?" Konohamaru asked the Hyuga genin.

"His mom and a talking Ninkin came by the Hyuga clan estate to raise a big stink about what I did," Hanabi replied, "My father was able to brush off what I did as me being really upset for what that Kiba jerk did to Onee-sama during the Chunnin Tournament. Although my father still gave me a mild scolding after the Mrs. Inuzuka and her talking Ninkin left, saying that I was lucky I didn't kick hard enough to warrant Kiba needing to be taken to Konoha General."

"So, what's up on today's list of activities?" Udon asked Moegi.

"You know mister bowl-cut, who is mister Kakashi's self-proclaimed rival?" Moegi asked, and after the other genin all nodded in the affirmative, Moegi continued, "Well, he's recently taken to reading those pervert books because he wants to understand why mister Kakashi likes them so much." With a slight chuckle, Moegi said, "I secretly swapped out all of mister bowl-cut's pervert books with some reading material of a different nature. You all wanna come check out the results with me?"

…

Over at an outdoor café, Might Gai was treating his team to lunch. "I still cannot believe that Lady Hanabi would kick Kiba in his coin purse," Neji remarked in a mildly disappointed tone as he shook his head.

"Come now, Neji," Gai remarked, "Put thoughts like that away for now. The four of us are here at a quaint little outdoor café for lunch, so we should enjoy ourselves!"

"You know, Gai-sensei," Tenten began, "I'm surprised that you'd want to eat lunch at a place like this."

"Ah, that there is an important life-lesson, Tenten," Gai remarked, "The simple pleasures in life are often the best."

"Wise words as always, Gai-sensei," Rock Lee stated. (9)

As Neji picked up his mug of tea, Gai reached into the ninja weapons pouch on the back of his belt while saying, "I might as well get a bit of reading in as we wait for our food to arrive!"

"Uggh," Tenten said in a tone of disgust, "Gai-sensei, I still don't know why you'd want to read the same smut as Kakashi-sensei."

"In order to understand why my eternal rival likes these books so much," Gai replied as he opened his book, "I have decided that it is best for me to try reading these Why is a lady mage using an explosion spell to kill goblins?" Confused looks on all of their faces, Gai's students all too a quick look at the cover of the book that Gai was holding.

"That's one of those Mage Land books," Neji remarked as he looked at the cover, "It's a series of fantasy books that Lady Hinata loves reading."

"How did this get to where I kept my copy of Make-Out Paradise?" Gai asked rhetorically as he looked at the cover of the book, "Furthermore, where did my copy of Make-Out Paradise go?"

…

Over at the local park, Hinata, while dressed in her outfit that she wore when she had met up with Naruto the morning after they had gotten engaged, had quickly closed the book she was reading almost as soon as she had opened it. Noticing the profuse amount of embarrassed blushing on his fiancé's face, Naruto took a look at the cover of the book in her hands.

Sighing in a knowing manner, Naruto said as he shook his head, "This is Moegi's handiwork. I just know it."

END, BEFORE THE REDEMPTION CHAPTER SEVEN

Author's Notes:

(1) Ko was having a dream where he was part of an investigation team looking into Konoha restaurants supposedly discriminating against overweight customers. While Ko was donning a fat suit in order to do some undercover work, Ayame met and sub-sequentially fell in love with him.

(2) This is my best attempt to describe the casual outfit that Hinata wore in 'The Last', going off of at least two pictures I saw of Hinata wearing that get-up on the internet. The only deliberate changes I made to the outfit was replacing the regular sandals with shinobi sandals and throwing in Hinata's ninja headband.

(3) At the time, Hinata and all of her classmates were supposed to be at a first-grade reading level. The 'Mage Land' books are at a ninth-grade reading level at the least.

(4) Which would, surprisingly enough, include Sasuke Uchiha.

(5) I was debating for a bit on whether to have Moegi say 'plain' or 'chubby'; I ultimately settled on 'plain'.

(6) Moegi's mind broke upon hearing a girl confess to having a crush on Udon. Moegi's mind was rebooted in short order.

(7) Konohamaru isn't kidding; as part of an elaborate prank to mess with/insult Ebisu, Tsunade seriously started up a 'brownnoser of the year' award ceremony where, once a year, Tsunade presents Ebisu with a trophy topped with a nose. Ebisu has yet to realize that Tsunade is actually insulting him.

(8) At Hinata's request, Hiashi is keeping word of Hinata's engagement to Naruto a secret. Hanabi won't find out about it until sometime just before the Aburame clan requests help from Konoha government concerning the trouble they're having with their beekeeping fields.

(9) Rock Lee got runner-up in the 'Brownnoser of the year' award ceremony on two occasions; his trophies are silver as opposed to the gold ones Ebisu gets. Much like Ebisu, Rock Lee has not yet realized that this is all a joke/insult.

Well there's chapter seven, where Hanabi is introduced to Konohamaru and his friends and the groundwork for Hanabi and Udon's relationship is laid. The next chapter will feature a flash back and a special guest.

One word: séance.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any properties in this work that I did not make myself.

Before the redemption

Chapter eight: Séance and a show

Shikamaru Nara was walking through the village of Konohagakure one day, minding himself, when a familiar voice called out, "Hey, Shikamaru! Guess who's here in Konoha?"

A smile appearing on his face, Shikamaru turned around and came face-to-face with his girlfriend Temari, who was dashing somewhat quickly to catch up to him. "Hey, Temari," Shikamaru greeted, "You didn't come all this way just to see me, did you?"

"Gaara wanted to discuss something with your Hokage," Temari explained, "There's been some troublesome activity in the Land of Wind as of late, and it has Gaara worried."

"Troublesome activity?" Shikamaru repeated in a concerned tone.

Nodding in the affirmative, Temari continued, "Kumo ninja have been spotted periodically in and around the various towns and villages in the Land of Wind. Suna hasn't seen any Kumo ninja yet, and there hasn't been any hostile activity from them yet. But Gaara is still concerned."

Sighing, Shikamaru remarked, "You're right, Temari. That DOES sound troublesome, and you can trust me when I say that something's troublesome. I _know_ troublesome."

Nodding in understanding, Temari said, "Anywho, Kankuro and I came along with Gaara, mostly because we've been itching with boredom back in Suna. Due to all of the troublesome activity involving Kumo ninja having been spotted in the Land of Wind, Gaara is reluctant to let Kankuro and I out of the village."

"You and Kankuro are the only living relatives that Gaara has left," Shikamaru pointed out.

Sighing, Temari said, "I guess you have me there." Chuckling, Temari added, "You know, back when my brothers and I first came to Konoha, I never would have suspected that Gaara, of all people, would ever worry about the safety and well-being of others." Giving her boyfriend a knowing look, Temari said, "I guess I have your blonde friend to thank for opening Gaara's eyes and making him smell the coffee."

"Yeah, that's Naruto for you," Shikamaru remarked, "And to think, Naruto was actually worse off than Gaara."

A confused look on her face, Temari said, "I thought that Naruto was always a pleasant person."

"No, no, that isn't what I meant," Shikamaru replied with a gentle shake of his head, "Gaara always had a family, whereas Naruto has never had any family to speak of." (1)

A mildly somber look appearing across her face, Temari said, "Yeah, that's quite the-"

"Oh, hey Temari! Fancy seeing you here!" a male voice called out, getting Temari and Shikamaru to turn and see Choji Akimichi, the best friend of Shikamaru, come walking up. With Choji was his girlfriend Karui, who had recently been granted political asylum in Konoha. It goes without saying that it was Choji who called out. "So Shikamaru," Choji went on, "Are you, Ino and I still on for tonight?"

"You have something planned with your teammates tonight?" Temari asked as she turned to face Shikamaru.

Nodding in the affirmative, Shikamaru explained, "We're planning on holding a séance."

"A séance?" the sister of the sand siblings repeated in a mildly confused tone.

Nodding in the affirmative, Shikamaru explained, "Back when Choji, Ino and I were all still genin, our late teacher Asuma-sensei did a séance sometime shortly after the Konoha Crush in order to communicate with his father, the late Lord Third Hokage. Asuma-sensei allowed Choji, Ino and I to watch. Choji thought what Asuma-sensei was doing was cool, so he took down notes on everything, including on how to perform a séance."

"I still have those notes, so Shikamaru, Ino and I were planning on using them to perform a séance tonight," Choji stated, "Oh, and that reminds me." Facing Shikamaru specifically, Choji said, "Karui wants to know if it's okay for her to come along tonight."

"This whole séance business sounds cool, and I want to see it," Karui explained to the Nara chunnin, "Maybe we can try to communicate with Lord Forth Raikage or Master Bee, or one of my friends who tried to flee Kumo with me."

"Oh yeah, Shikamaru told me about that business," Temari remarked as she pointed to Karui, "A good thing he did, too. Otherwise I probably would have attacked you on the spot the moment I saw you." (2)

"Sorry Karui, but Choji, Ino and I have enough incense to communicate with one spirit," Shikamaru explained, "And we've already decided whose spirit to communicate with. But you're still welcome to come, if you wish."

Nodding in understanding, the Kumo kunoichi replied, "Fair enough, I suppose. And yes, I would still like to come. I think Ino said something about bringing Sai along as well."

"Hey," Temari said as she turned to face Shikamaru, "If your friends are bringing their respective dates to this séance thing, then I want to come too."

"We're having the séance tonight," Shikamaru pointed out, "Won't you and your brothers be out of Konoha by that point?"

"We're actually staying overnight, as Gaara has a number of things to discuss with your Hokage," Temari explained, "So I actually have the time."

"Hmm," Shikamaru said, "Well if that's the case, then I don't see why you can't come."

"Just be sure to do what Shikamaru, Ino and I say, Temari," Choji remarked, "We know what we're doing."

Nodding in understanding, Temari said, "You got it, chief."

* * *

That night, Shikamaru, Choji and Ino met up at an unused store house on Akimichi clan property; Choji was able to secure use of it ahead of time. As Choji and Shikamaru set up for the séance, Ino got to talking with Temari, who she did not expect to come to the séance. (3)

"…And that's when Gaara scolded me for teasing Homika," Temari said in a mild tone of complaint as she wrapped up a story she was telling to the other girls and Sai, "I mean, come on! I was just playing around!"

"Homika?" Sai repeated in a confused tone, "Who is that?"

"Some mousey little nerdette who works at the Kazekage office building as a secretary," Temari explained with an indifferent shrug. (4)

"Maybe your younger brother is concerned with the well-being of the people who work for him," Ino remarked, "I mean, I heard that this one time, Lady Tsunade once punched out one of the guards of a visiting noble just because that guard said that Sakura looked kind of homely."

Her eyes widening somewhat, Temari said to the Yamanaka chunnin in a mildly subdued tone, "Remind me never to insult your friend Sakura."

"Hey girls, Sai," Shikamaru called out from over at the table where he and Choji set up the séance, "We're ready to start! Ino, get ready to take your place."

The girls and Sai walked over to where the table was at, with Ino standing between Shikamaru and Choji (Shikamaru was on Ino's left, and Choji was on Ino's right). At Choji's instruction, the guests stood back a bit, although they were able to see what was set up on the table; a number of long wax candles, one at each corner of the table and already lit. In the center of the table were two incense burners on either side of a crystal ball resting comfortably in the middle of a light purple square-shaped cushion that had little tassels on each corner. In front of the crystal ball was a pair of brass knuckle chakra blades that sort of resembled trench knives; on the left of the chakra blades was a pack of cigarettes, and on the right of the chakra blades was a cigarette lighter (a cheap red one that one can buy at most stores).

"In order to call upon the spirit of the person we wish to communicate with," Shikamaru said aloud as he explained things to the guests, "Those who perform the séance must first join hands, then say aloud the favorite phrase of the person they wish to communicate with."

Shikamaru, Ino and Choji all joined hands, closed their eyes, and concentrated. After everything was silent for a few seconds, Shikamaru, Ino and Choji all said aloud and in unison, "Not right now!"

Suddenly, to the shock of the guests that were brought along, wind started blowing randomly in the room. A glowing white light appeared over the crystal ball, growing in size and changing shape, eventually resembling a human. As the shape gained more and more detail, Temari said in an alarmed tone, "The hell is going on?!"

"Relax, Temari," Shikamaru called out as he and his teammates let go of each other's hands, "This is supposed to happen! Nothing to worry about!"

The glowing shape eventually fully resembled a deceased individual, one who Shikamaru and his teammates were all too familiar with. As he floated over the crystal ball on the table, the ghost of Asuma Sarutobi proclaimed, "I live!" (5)

"No, not really, Asuma-sensei," Shikamaru said to the ghost. Hearing the voice of one of his students speak up, Asuma looked down and saw all three of his students.

A mildly stern look on his face, Asuma said, "You three better not have had used the Edo Tensei to bring me here!"

"No, no," Ino assured the ghost of her sensei, "We're just performing a séance, Asuma-sensei. Remember when you did one to communicate with Lord Third?"

A look of realization on his face, the ghost of Asuma said, "Huh. I didn't figure that any of you three would have paid close enough attention to what I was doing back then." Relaxing somewhat, Asuma looked down at the table. "Ah, so you're using my old chakra blades as the focus for my spirit. And I see that you have also provided the offering!"

At that cue, Shikamaru picked up the pack of cigarettes and bent it; at the same time, Choji took a hammer and smashed the lighter. After Shikamaru laid the bent cigarette pack back down onto the table, Asuma's ghost reached down at the bent pack of cigarettes and the smashed lighter, pulling up a ghostly lighter and ghostly pack of cigarettes. After lighting one of the ghostly cigarettes with the ghostly lighter, Asuma took a drag from it. "Oh yeah," Asuma said in a relaxed tone, "That's the stuff." Looking around the room further, Asuma's line of sight eventually fell upon the guests. A confused look on his face, Asuma pointed to them and asked, "Who are they?"

"Oh, that would be Shikamaru's girlfriend Temari, Choji's girlfriend Karui, and my boyfriend Sai," Ino explained, "They came to watch."

A hand on his right hip, Asuma said, "Huh, you don't say. You know Ino, that boy looks like the kind of boy that I bet your father would chase around with a baseball bat."

"My dad _has_ chased Sai around with a baseball bat," Ino replied in a bemused tone, "Often with Mr. Fisher and/or Mrs. Inuzuka backing him up."

"How are your folks doing, by the way?" Asuma asked his students, "I mean, I remember hearing while I was reincarnated during the Fourth Great Ninja War that your respective dads all took part."

"Oh, they all lived," Shikamaru explained, "Granted, the base where my dad and Ino's dad were both stationed was blown up by a gigantic tailed beast ball, but a lot of the folks at the base were all carrying Pod Shields, so they all survived." (6)

"I bet that if my fighting style involved just one chakra blade instead of a pair, I probably could have worked a Pod Shield into the balance," Asuma remarked, "That would have saved my sorry ass against that crazy scythe guy." Sighing, Asuma said after a few seconds, "How's Kurenai doing, by the way?"

"Oh, Kurenai-sensei is doing fine," Choji replied, "Sometime shortly before the Fourth Great Ninja War began, Kurenai-sensei gave birth to a girl."

"Damn it!" Asuma remarked as he snapped the fingers in his right hand, "I was banking on a son!"

"I think a girl is perfectly fine, mister Asuma," Karui remarked from where she stood with Temari and Sai.

Sighing, Asuma said, "Whatever." Looking to his students, Asuma said, "So anywho, why did you all hold this séance to communicate with me? I hope the reason is better than just because you missed me, although that would be rather sweet of you three."

"Well we did miss you, yes," Shikamaru remarked, "But we actually do have a reason for communicating with you. Specifically, the mission involving Lord Third's old sports ring."

"Ah yes, my dad's old sports ring," Asuma remarked, "I remember that old thing."

"What sort of mission are you all talking about?" Sai asked.

"It was a mission that took place shortly after the Konoha Crush, but before that pair of rouge ninja showed up," Ino explained as she turned to face the guests.

"Yeah, Ino's right," the ghost of Asuma remarked, "Well, it wasn't so much an actual mission, so much as it was a sort-of competition between me and Kurenai about whose method of teaching their respective team of genin was better." Taking a sitting position over the crystal ball that he floated over, Asuma said, "For those here who were not present for when this went down, here's the story…"

* * *

(ROUGHLY FIVE TO SIX YEARS AGO, KONOHAGAKURE)

Kakashi Hatake, Asuma Sarutobi and Might Gai were in one of the local training grounds with their respective team of genin; the only genin who was not present was Rock Lee. (7) "Hmm," Gai said as he wore a look of consideration, "Kurenai and her team should have been here by now. We cannot go over the emergency drills without her."

"Feh," Asuma scoffed with an indifferent shrug of his shoulders, "She's probably treating her genin to lunch at that fancy cake café that she likes. She coddles her genin too much, if you ask me!"

"You're just overthinking things, Asuma," Kakashi remarked in a seconding tone, "Besides which, you may want to take a hint or two from Kurenai in that regard."

Regarding the copycat ninja with a mildly suspicious look, Asuma said, "What do you mean, Kakashi?"

"From all accounts that I've been hearing," Kakashi explained, "You're something of a slave-driver to your students. Don't get me wrong, it's a good thing that you're making them work, but making them work too much or too hard cannot be good for them."

"Asuma-sensei is making us work too hard?" Choji asked in a confused tone, "I don't get it."

"See?" Asuma said to Kakashi as he gestured to Choji, "My own students don't think I'm a slave-driver!"

"Well maybe that's because they haven't seen how Kurenai treats her students," Kakashi pointed out, "Or how I treat my students, or how Gai treats his. They don't have anything to compare the way you treat them to."

"I don't think Asuma-sensei works us too hard," Shikamaru said, "Works us too MUCH, totally. But too HARD, I don't think so."

"Heh," Asuma laughed in an amused tone, "Typical Shikamaru. Doesn't mind quality of work, so long as he does not have to do a quantity-"

*FWEEEEEEET*

Asuma was cut off when a loud whistle sound came out of nowhere, making him and the others flinch slightly. Looking over in the direction the whistling came from, the jonin and the genin all saw Kurenai walk up with her students; Kiba was covering his ears and Akamaru, who was resting on Kiba's head, was whimpering. Hinata was holding in her right hand a lavender whistle that was attached to a lavender-colored lanyard around her neck (Hinata's headband was over the lanyard).

"Holy balls, that was painful," Kiba remarked.

"I'm sorry Kiba, but the demonstration was necessary," Kurenai explained to her Inuzuka student. Turning to face the rest of the gathered Konoha ninja, Kurenai said, "I'm sorry if that startled you all, but it's part of the reason why I called you all out here."

"Hmm?" Kakashi said as he noticed the whistle on Hinata's lanyard; it wasn't a traditional sports whistle, but one that was cylindrical in shape. To Kurenai, Kakashi said, "Is that a rape whistle that you gave to your student, Kurenai?"

"I just found out that the teachers at the Leaf Village Ninja Academy never bothered to go over stranger safety with the students," Kurenai remarked in a mildly disgusted tone, "The girls won't know what to do if someone tries to abduct them or force themselves on them!"

Reaching into her ninja weapons pouch, Kurenai pulled out three rape whistles, each attached to a lanyard of matching color; one set was pink, one was rich purple, and one was green. Tossing the pink one to Sakura, the purple one to Ino and the green one to Tenten, Kurenai said to the other jonin instructors, "It's up to us as their teachers to make sure the girls are properly educated and equipped to handle whatever may come along. This is especially important given the recent attack on Konoha."

"A brilliant idea, Kurenai!" Gai proclaimed, then with a mildly confused look added, "But wouldn't it have been a good idea to have gotten each of the boys one of those as well?"

"Pfft, boys don't need rape whistles," Kurenai replied in a dismissive tone, "The idea of a boy needing one is just silly." (8)

"Hey, uhh, Ino," Asuma began, "Can I see that rape whistle that Kurenai just gave you?" Doing as Asuma asked, Ino handed her rape whistle over. After he considered it for a few seconds, Asuma turned around and chucked the rape whistle as hard as he could, managing to throw it clear into town.

"Asuma, what the hell?!" Kurenai exclaimed, looking very much angry.

"It's bad enough that you coddle your own students, Kurenai," Asuma said, "But I'll be damned if I let you do the same to mine!"

"You only think I quote unquote 'coddle' my students because you're a slave-driver to yours!" Kurenai snapped.

"Uhh, how many of your students made it past the first part of the combat portion of the recent chunnin exams?" Asuma asked, "Just one. Remember how many of MY students made it past round one?"

"One," Shikamaru pointed out, "That weird pink-haired boy named Natsu knocked out Choji (9) while Ino and Sakura took each other out. Kakashi-sensei is the only one of you jonin instructors to have had more than one of the genin on his team to make it past round one of the combat portion of the chunnin exams."

"ARUGH!" Gai exclaimed as he looked up to the sky while gripping the sides of his head, "Once again I am defeated by my eternal rival Kakashi!"

"Can I say something?" Sasuke asked, raising a hand.

"No," Asuma and Kurenai said to the last Uchiha in unison before going back to chewing each other out.

"I bet that I can do a way better job with training your genin than you can with mine, Kurenai," Asuma challenged.

"Oh really?" Kurenai replied, "Well how about a little competition, then?"

"What do you mean, Kurenai?" Asuma asked, a suspicious look on his face.

"As he was your father, you should know about the summer home the late Lord Third had in the town a few miles outside of Konoha," Kurenai began, "According to the two guards who regularly served Lord Third, he left his prized sports ring at the summer home." Pointing to Asuma, Kurenai said, "I'll lead your team to the summer home while you lead mine. First to recover your father's sports ring wins."

"Can I get in on this action?" Gai asked, an eager look on his face, "I do love a competition!"

"Gai, I think that it's best to leave this between Kurenai and Asuma," Kakashi remarked as he turned to face his self-proclaimed rival, "That being said." Turning to face his students, Kakashi said, "Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, I want the three of you to steer clear of this mess. I don't want any of you getting caught up in some bitter rivalry between the other jonin instructors, alright? It's bad enough their dragging their own students into this mess."

"You're just scared that you think my students can beat yours, Kakashi!" Gai proclaimed, pointing dramatically at his eternal rival.

"Umm, Gai-sensei," Neji remarked, "Naruto defeated me during the chunnin exams, remember?" (10)

Without turning to face his student, Gai continued to look at Kakashi. "…You're smiling at me in a mocking manner under that mask, you bastard," Gai said to Kakashi, "Aren't you?"

"So, it's agreed," Asuma said, "Kurenai shall lead my students to the summer home, whereas I shall lead her students there! And the winner will prove their method as correct!"

"You're going down, Asuma," Kurenai said, "The gentle approach is the best."

"Like hell it is!" Asuma declared, "The firm approach is the best!"

* * *

(FLASHBACK OVER)

"…Yeah, now I remember," Choji said as all eyes were on him, "Asuma-sensei thought that Kurenai-sensei was being too easy on Kiba, Shino and Hinata, whereas Kurenai-sensei thought that Asuma-sensei was being too hard on Shikamaru, Ino and I."

"So, how was miss Kurenai?" Karui asked in a curious tone.

"She is a lot more relaxed than Asuma-sensei was," Shikamaru replied, "You see, this is how our pre-mission run down went…"

* * *

(ROUGHLY FIVE TO SIX YEARS AGO, KONOHAGAKURE)

Shikamaru, Choji and Ino were waiting for Kurenai to show up at the throwing weapons practice area. "Okay you three, I'm here," Kurenai called out. When she came into view, she saw to her confusion that Shikamaru, Choji and Ino were all standing at attention.

"Umm…why are you three standing at attention?" Kurenai asked.

"We're waiting for you to give us the run-down on our objective, sir!" Shikamaru said, a somewhat nervous look on his face.

Sighing in an exasperated manner, Kurenai said, "Asuma put the idea into your head that standing at attention is required, didn't he?"

"He would make all three of us run laps if even one of us was out of line, sir!" Choji explained in the same tone as Shikamaru.

Shaking her head, Kurenai muttered, "I knew it. Asuma is a slave-driver." Speaking out loud, Kurenai said, "You three can relax. And cut it out with the standing at attention! You're just kids, for crying out loud!"

"We…don't have to stand at attention, sir?" Ino asked, sounding mildly unsure.

"No, no you do not," Kurenai replied in a kind tone, "And you don't have to call me 'sir'. Kurenai-sensei will be sufficient." (11)

As the three genin relaxed visibly, Kurenai asked, "I don't suppose any of you know where Lord Third's summer home is located, do you?"

"Luckily, Asuma-sensei took us there once," Shikamaru replied, "Why do you ask? Do you not know?"

"I know, don't worry," Kurenai assured the Nara genin, "I just wanted to know if any of you know the way."

"We're all familiar with the way to Lord Third's summer home," Ino said, then in a mildly unsure tone added, "Kurenai-sensei."

Chuckling in a good-natured tone, Kurenai said, "You kids can relax. I'm not going to force you all to act like rank-and-file soldiers." Their respective expressions lightening up noticeably, the genin students of Asuma all sighed in relief.

* * *

(FLASHBACK OVER)

"I knew it," the ghost of Asuma said as he floated over the crystal ball, "Kurenai is a coddler."

"Well she DID raise a few valid points about you being a tad more commanding than what was necessary," Shikamaru pointed out, "Especially considering the fact that Ino, Choji, the others and I were only just genin at the time."

"What really bothered me was that Kurenai took her genin to that sweets shop rather than the barbecue grill," Asuma stated, "Meat is manly!"

"I'll agree to that!" Choji remarked.

"Well Kurenai-sensei is a woman, Asuma-sensei," Ino said, "Not to mention the fact that it was fairly obvious that Hinata was her favorite, given that they were of a like mind on a number of points."

Sighing in an exasperated tone, Asuma said, "Yeesh, that brings me to when I was about to give Kurenai's students the run down for the mission to get to my late father's old sports ring…"

* * *

(ROUGHLY FIVE TO SIX YEARS AGO, KONOHAGAKURE)

Asuma came to the practice grounds where Kurenai's students would be waiting for him. When he got there, he saw that Kiba and Shino were standing around casually. "What is going on here?!" Asuma called out in a somewhat commanding tone, mildly startling Kiba and Shino.

Turning to regard Asuma with a confused look, Kiba asked, "What are you talking about, Asuma-sensei?"

"One, you will refer to me as sir," Asuma began in a somewhat firmer tone than what he had used before, "Two, why aren't you two standing at attention and in proper formation, and three, why are there only two of you?

"One, Kurenai-sensei was obviously right about you being a slave-driver if this is how you command others that are placed under your command, especially considering the fact that Kiba and I are just genin and not rank-and-file soldiers," Shino replied, "Two, Kurenai-sensei never has us 'stand at attention' or 'in proper formation' as you put it, and three, Hinata ran away."

"She what?!" Asuma exclaimed, looking angry and annoyed.

"She said that you're terrifying, and took off the moment she felt that you weren't paying attention," Kiba explained to Asuma, "Hyuga clan fun fact: Hinata's father, who is the leader of the Hyuga clan by the way, has a very low and poor opinion of you, so he won't hold what Hinata did against her in the least."

Sighing in an exasperated tone, Asuma said as he face-palmed, "I can't beat Kurenai in this challenge unless I have all three of her students just as she has all three of mine." Looking to Kurenai's male students, Asuma pointed at them and said, "You two will wait here while I go off and find Hinata."

…

A few minutes later, Asuma was hopping from tree branch to tree branch, looking around for any sign of the Hyuga genin kunoichi. "Hmm," Asuma said quietly to himself, "If I was a mousey little genin kunoichi who Kurenai treats as her personal lap pet, where would I hide if I ran away from real work?"

As Asuma stopped on a tree branch on a tree located near another practice area, he stopped and looked to see who was in the practice area. To his interest, Asuma saw the respective students of Kakashi and Gai, minus Rock Lee. Apparently, Naruto was talking to Neji about something, but Asuma was too far away to hear what was being said.

" _I wish that Gai would get along with Kakashi the way that their respective genin get along here_ ," Asuma thought, " _Gai really has to cool it with the whole_ ' _eternal rival_ ' _business_ , _because eventually it_ ' _s going to land him in some pretty hot water_." As Asuma looked around the area he was in some more, he spotted Hinata secretly watching the meeting between the students of Kakashi and Gai; the Hyuga genin was hiding behind a tree.

" _Found you_ ," Asuma thought as a mischievous smirk spread across his face. Hopping down from the tree branch he stood on and landing so that he made as little noise as possible, Asuma silently snuck up behind Hinata who, due to paying close attention to the meeting between Kakashi's students and Gai's students, was painfully unaware of her surroundings. As such, Asuma was able to wrap his arms around her stomach and hoist her up.

Unfortunately for Asuma, he threw his arms around Hinata from _under_ her arms instead of _over_ them, and as such, Hinata's arms were free. Immediately after gasping in shock that someone had grabbed her from behind, Hinata took the rape whistle that was on the lanyard around her neck and blew on it as hard as she could, startling Asuma into letting go of her. After Hinata got her feet back down on the ground, she blew on her whistle a few more times; within a few seconds, the students of Kakashi and Gai all came into the area where Hinata and Asuma stood.

"What's going on here, Hinata?" Naruto asked in a concerned tone.

"Asuma-sensei snuck up from behind me, grabbed me, and tried to pick me up!" Hinata exclaimed in a terrified tone right before blowing on her whistle again.

"He did _WHAT_?!" Tenten exclaimed, looking very much both angry and disgusted.

"It's not what it looks like, I swear!" Asuma explained, "You see, I was just giving Kurenai's students the run-down about the-"

"I heard someone blow on their rape whistle," Kurenai called out as she came running onto the scene with Asuma's students. Following the four of them were Kakashi and Gai. "What's going on here?" Kurenai asked.

"Asuma-sensei grabbed Hinata and tried to pick her up after sneaking up from behind her," Naruto said to Kurenai as he pointed an accusing finger at Asuma, "Then Hinata blew on the whistle that you gave her, Kurenai-sensei!"

"Asuma-sensei! How could you?!" Ino exclaimed, looking equal parts disgusted and offended.

"She ran off before I could even give her, Kiba and Shino the run-down for the mission, so I was just trying to find her and bring her back over," Asuma explained, "That's all, I swear!"

…

Late that afternoon, Asuma walked out of a legal office with the other jonin instructors. The other jonin realized that Asuma was actually telling the truth, but before they could reassure their students about it, the genin had all run off, screaming that Asuma was trying to force himself on one of them. This had made the process of damage control, which the jonin instructors had just at that moment finished wrapping up, very difficult.

"Now in their defense, Asuma," Kakashi said, "The way you were trying to take Hinata back to where Kiba and Shino were waiting did look pretty suspicious."

"What I wanna know is why you didn't scold Naruto for kicking me in my coin purse," Asuma said to the copycat ninja.

"Again, what you were doing looked pretty suspicious," Kakashi replied.

Turning to face Kurenai, Asuma said, "And why did YOU pat Naruto on the head and gave him a caramel?"

"I have my reasons," Kurenai replied. (12)

"Well now Asuma, my good man," Gai remarked, "Now that the competition between you and Kurenai had floundered out before it could even begin, how will the two of you determine which one of you has the best method when it comes to teaching your genin students?"

Sighing, Asuma said, "I was just going to offer to Kurenai that we can call it a draw."

Nodding, Kurenai said, "Yeah, that sounds reasonable, given the circumstances."

"Excuse me!" a male voice called out from behind the four jonin, making them all turn around. When they did, Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai and Gai all saw that Hiashi Hyuga, two Hyuga clan shinobi dressed in the standard outfit for Konoha shinobi, and Neji were all standing there. It had been Hiashi who had called out.

"Asuma-sensei is the one with the beard, Lord Hiashi," Neji said as he turned to face his uncle.

"Thank you, Neji," the Hyuga clan lord replied before he gestured for the two Hyuga shinobi to follow him.

The two words that Kakashi said to Asuma were all the instructions that the bearded jonin needed; "Asuma. Run."

* * *

(FLASHBACK OVER)

"…Those men ended up chasing me halfway across the village, and only gave up because I managed to shake them," Asuma's ghost said to his living audience, "Two days later, I had learned that Lord Hiashi had sent Naruto a charming gift basket full of various snacks and candies, along with a thank you note."

"So, THAT'S how Naruto got all of those snacks," Choji remarked in a wondering tone, "That all was a lot of high-class goods."

"So anywho, why did you all want to know about the old sports ring my father had?" Asuma asked.

"As far as we're aware, the ring is still over at the summer home," Shikamaru explained, "Choji, Ino and I were considering heading over there, collecting the ring, and delivering it to your next of kin so as to complete the mission."

"That is a nice thought," Asuma replied, "Although the whole 'mission' thing is kind of pointless by now, if you think about it."

"We were planning to do it for the symbolic value," Choji said.

"Oh!" Asuma remarked as he floated over the crystal ball, "Well in that case go for it! Oh, who did you have in mind about giving the sports ring to?"

"Shikamaru and Choji suggested your nephew, but I think that we should give it to Kurenai-sensei, given that she gave birth to your child," Ino explained.

"Ehh, I think the boys have the right idea, Ino," Asuma replied, "I mean, it's nice that you'd give such consideration to Kurenai, but my father's sports ring is something that's supposed to be handed down from man to man." To his students as a whole, Asuma said, "So yeah. If you all do find the ring, can you give it to Konohamaru for me?"

"Can do, Asuma-sensei," Shikamaru replied with a salute, a gesture that was copied by Choji, Ino, Sai, Temari and Karui.

"Well then, if this is all, then I suppose that I'll be heading back now," Asuma said, "Oh, and Shikamaru?" As he pointed to his pair of chakra blades that laid on the table, Asuma continued, "You see my chakra blades there? I want you to do me a favor and make sure my kid gets them when she's old enough to handle them. Until then, hold onto them for her, alright?"

"Yes sir," Shikamaru replied.

"You kids do me proud, alright?" Asuma said as his incorporeal form faded, "I'll be seeing you all at some point. Hopefully later rather than sooner." With that, the spirit of Asuma faded into the ether.

With the séance concluded, Shikamaru and his teammate turned to face their respective guests. "It's a bit too late to go over to the summer home now," Shikamaru said to the others, "So I propose that we hold off on it until first thing tomorrow."

"You mind if I tag along?" Temari asked, "I've been dying to do any sort of mission to relieve the boredom, and I've never tried one of these last request-type missions."

"When will you and your brothers be leaving back to Suna?" Shikamaru asked.

"We're intending to stay until Gaara gets your Hokage to agree to assist with the troublesome business that the Land of Wind is dealing with right now," Temari replied, "From what I've heard, your Hokage will be rather stubborn concerning any business having to deal with Kumo ninja." A mildly worried look on her face, Temari turned to face Karui and said, "No offence."

"None taken," Karui replied in an understanding tone.

"Now normally, I'd be for the idea of keeping this mission to just me, Shikamaru and Choji," Ino said, "But what you said has given me an idea on getting Sai out of the village so that he'd have some time away from my dad trying to harass him." To her teammates, Ino said, "I think we should bring them along."

"Karui has to stay in Konoha, as it's giving her political asylum from Kumo," Choji pointed out.

"That's fair enough," Karui remarked, "But don't let me stop the rest of you."

"Then it's agreed," Shikamaru said to the others that were present, "Tomorrow, my teammates, Temari, Sai and I will head over to Lord Third's summer home, collect his old sports ring, and bring it back to Konoha so we can deliver it to Konohamaru!" Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, Temari and Sai all threw their hands together, then threw the hands up.

* * *

The following afternoon, Shikamaru and his group all walked back into the village. They were greeted by Karui, who said as she handed a wrapped bento to Choji, "How did it go? Did you guys find the sports ring?"

"We searched the entirety of Lord Third's summer home and found no sports ring to speak of!" Shikamaru exclaimed.

"Oh, you mean Uncle Asuma's old ring?" a young male voice called out, getting everyone to turn and see Konohamaru walk up with his friends Udon and Moegi, plus Hanabi; the only one of the six older ninja who recognized Hanabi was Ino, who smiled and gave the young Hyuga girl a friendly handwave.

"You know about it?" Shikamaru asked.

Nodding once in the affirmative, Konohamaru said, "Yeah, a bit after that one incident a few years back where Uncle Asuma was almost forced to register as a sex offender, Big Bro and his teammates, plus those two fellows Neji and Tenten, all went over to grandpa's old summer home to try and find that ring. They found it and were debating what to do with it."

"According to the story that Big Bro told us," Udon continued, "Sasuke wanted to return it to Konohamaru's uncle as it belonged to Konohamaru's family, but that Tenten girl didn't like the idea of giving something so nice to mister Asuma, due to the stunt that he pulled at the time and the fact that mister Asuma might have tried to use that as proof that his way of being a jonin instructor was better than miss Kurenai's way."

"Big Bro then said that with the concerns about Uncle Asuma trying to prove that his methods were better than miss Kurenai's methods, Neji suggested that they give the ring to miss Kurenai instead, so that she can prove that her methods were better," Konohamaru said.

"Then Big Bro told us about Sakura's suggestion, which was the one they used," Moegi said.

"What was Sakura's suggestion?" Ino asked.

"They ended up giving the ring to Hanabi's older sister," Udon replied, "On the basis that she had been going through a lot at the time and they all thought that a nice gift would make her feel better."

"Shortly after mister Asuma's funeral, Onee-sama learned that the ring actually belonged to Konohamaru's family," Hanabi said, "So she gave the ring to Konohamaru."

"A few months after that, I was in a real pinch money wise, so I decided to pawn the ring," Konohamaru said, "Luckily for me, I ran into Hanabi's older sister on the way to the pawn shop, I told her what I was having to do, and she offered to buy the sports ring from me while saying that, when I could afford it, she'd sell it back to me at half the price at which I sold it to her."

"Which just further proves that Onee-sama is the single greatest and nicest person alive," Hanabi said.

"Were you able to buy the sports ring back from Hinata yet?" Choji asked Konohamaru.

With a gentle shake of his head, Konohamaru said, "No, not yet. I would have been able to do so after I had gotten my share of the payment from the latest mission I did with Udon and Moegi, but we were forced to forgo being paid so that we could bail Ebisu-sensei out of some serious trouble. We all also had to dip a little bit into our respective savings, too."

With a huff, Karui said, "Well this Ebisu-sensei fellow had better pay the three of you back!"

"I highly doubt that he'll ever do it," Moegi said in a knowing tone while shrugging.

"How much did you sell the sports ring to Hinata for?" Shikamaru asked.

"Ten-thousand ryo," Konohamaru replied.

"And you said that Hinata told you that you only had to pay her five-thousand to get it back, right?" Shikamaru continued, drawing a nod in the affirmative from Konohamaru.

"Onee-sama still has the sports ring, in case you all were wondering," Hanabi remarked, "She keeps it in a little keepsake box hidden in the top drawer of her dresser. The box also contains a charm bracelet, her back-up asthma inhaler, a lavender scrunchy, and a photo of that guy with spiky yellow-blonde hair. There's a heart drawn around the guy's face."

"Hanabi, you shouldn't be going through Hinata's things," Ino said in a mild scolding tone.

"I'm her little sister," Hanabi rebutted as she casually dismissed Ino's mild scolding, "Going through Onee-sama's belongings is something that I'm entitled to."

"Why are you all asking about Uncle Asuma's ring?" Konohamaru asked.

"We had a séance last night where we communicated with Asuma-sensei so we could ask him if he wanted us to carry out the mission involving the ring from a while ago," Shikamaru replied, "You know, for symbolic value. He gave us the okay and even asked to make sure that you got the ring, Konohamaru. As his students, it's up to Choji, Ino and I to carry out this request."

"I wish you would have told me that you were going to hold a séance to talk to Uncle Asuma," Konohamaru said, "I would have loved to have come along. But like I said, I'm waiting until I save up five-thousand ryo so I can buy the sports ring back from Hanabi's older sister."

"You want that Ino, Shikamaru and I pool the money together and buy it back for you?" Choji offered. Both Shikamaru and Ino nodded in agreement with the offer that Choji just made.

"No need to go that far for me," Konohamaru replied, "Besides, it's best if I handle this myself, as I need to prove that I can handle my own affairs."

"That's a very mature thing for you to say, Konohamaru," Choji remarked in a tone that parents (usually fathers) use when praising kids, "I bet that Asuma-sensei, if he was around to have heard that, would have said that you've proven yourself to be a real man. In fact, why don't I treat you and your friends here to lunch at the barbecue grill? Asuma-sensei did it for me and my teammates many times, so I should do the same for you all."

"We're all actually on our way home right now," Konohamaru said, "But thank you or the offer. Maybe we can take you up on it tomorrow during lunch?" Udon, Moegi and Hanabi all nodded in agreement with what Konohamaru said.

"Sounds like a plan, kids," Choji replied. After the genin took their leave, Shikamaru and his teammate all turned to face their respective dates.

"That was real nice of you, Choji," Karui said.

"Well back when my teammates, our classmates and I were all still genin, our jonin instructors would often take us out to lunch," Choji explained to the others, "Eventually, instead of people treating my friends and I to lunch, it will be my friends and I who will be the ones covering the bill. It's all a part of growing up."

"I couldn't agree with you more, dude," Shikamaru remarked, patting his best friend on the back.

END, BEFORE THE REDEMPTION CHAPTER EIGHT

Author's Notes:

(1) Shikamaru isn't aware that the issue concerning Naruto's lack of a family will soon be resolved.

(2) Given what's currently going on in the Land of Wind, one cannot truly blame Temari for saying this.

(3) Ino was only aware of Sai and Karui coming to the séance until that moment.

(4) Homika is the name of the secretary who would eventually give Gaara the note that said that he had a call from Konoha waiting for him.

(5) Asuma's favorite phrase really is 'Not right now!'.

(6) Yay technology!

(7) He was seriously roughed up at the time, remember?

(8) At this point in time, it was thought in the Land of Fire that males would never be raped.

(9) This will come up in a future 'Harold' chapter.

(10) In addition to learning that fate isn't set in stone, Neji learned another valuable lesson that day; if you hurt Hinata, then Naruto will hurt you. HARD.

(11) Also, 'ma'am' would have been more accurate.

(12) Kurenai thought that Naruto was being really sweet by 'avenging' Hinata. Also, Kurenai is a MAJOR supporter of the idea of Naruto and Hinata being together.

Well there's chapter eight done and over with. The next chapter will revolve primarily around Neji, specifically his tragic early childhood in regards to him losing his father. Mention will also be made to the bitter attitude that Neji sported from then up until Naruto knocked some sense into him during their first go at the chunnin exams.

Shukaku was right. It should have been Baki. Kurama also makes a very compelling argument concerning Tenten.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any properties in this work that I did not make myself.

Before the redemption

Chapter nine: Are you proud of me?

Neji Hyuga was at a training ground in Konohagakure one afternoon, practicing the movements for one of the Hyuga clan's techniques. He didn't move with quick thrusts, but rather he flowed in and out of the movements gracefully, as if he were flowing water; Neji's moving looked more akin to a traditional (not to mention beautiful) dance rather than practicing the movements for a technique.

Standing over near some throwing weapons targets were Neji's teammates on Team Gai, Rock Lee and Tenten. They had stopped midway through their own training in order to, for lack of a better way to put this, watch the show. Given that even _Rock Lee_ , of all people, stopped midway through training just to watch someone else practice spoke volumes of the quality of Neji's own training, not to mention how much respect the Taijitsu master had for the Hyuga prodigy.

"Wow, Neji-kun," Rock Lee remarked, "Your form is flawless! You really are the genius that others say you are!"

Stopping in his movements, Neji turned to face his teammates. "It's nothing all that special, really," Neji remarked in a somewhat modest tone, "It's just the same old thing I've been doing for years now."

"That still doesn't make what you do any less amazing, Neji," Tenten said as she got up off from leaning against one of the throwing weapons targets and walked over to her jonin teammate. Stopping about a foot in front of Neji, Tenten continued, "I don't think I'd ever be able to dance as well as you."

"Again, years of practice," Neji replied, "And it's _not_ dancing."

"Well you make it look like dancing, it's so amazing," Tenten said, "Seriously, though. I bet that I'd never be as good at actual dancing as you."

"Umm, thanks," Neji remarked, his eyes looking from Tenten's face to the ground at his left as a somewhat embarrassed blush appeared across his face.

"I bet your entire clan has nothing but praise for you, Neji-kun!" Rock Lee stated, "Any clan would be proud to have a genius like you!"

"I just do my duty to the main branch, same as any other member of the cadet branch," Neji said in as casual a manner as he could manage, which was something of a Herculean task given how much he was still blushing in embarrassment.

Hands on her hips, Tenten said, "Well Neji, you're loads better than that idiot Ko who is in your clan. Seriously, what the hell was your uncle thinking, putting Ko in charge of looking after a girl as kindhearted and downright adorable as Hinata?"

"I had actually asked Lord Hiashi that very question myself," Neji explained, "I asked him sometime shortly after the Konoha Crush ended, but right before that little challenge between Asuma-sensei and Kurenai-sensei took place. (1) According to Lord Hiashi, he had actually wanted to assign this one maid our clan has, Natsu, to look after Lady Hinata. However, there was an incident around the time Lady Hanabi turned two, and as a result Lord Hiashi had to assign Natsu to look after Lady Hanabi instead, for reasons that Lord Hiashi didn't seem comfortable to want to discuss. So, I left the subject be."

"That still doesn't quite explain why a member of your clan who makes Sakura's uncle look smart by comparison got put in charge of looking after Hinata," Tenten remarked. (2)

"Lord Hiashi said that Ko was _literally_ the only person available for the job," Neji continued, "Due to the lack of any other option, Lord Hiashi said he had to give the job to Ko."

"Didn't your uncle give Ko's job of looking after Hinata to you, Neji-kun?" Rock Lee asked.

"That was only a temporary arraignment, Rock Lee," Neji pointed out, "While Ko was on probation. Lord Hiashi had recently put Ko back on the job."

"I think that you should have been given the job permanently," Tenten remarked, "I mean, you're loads more competent that Ko. Besides, look at how far you've come from prior to our first go at the chunnin exams! Your attitude made a complete turnaround!"

Sighing in a resigned tone, Neji said, "Yes, yes, I know full well how I used to act. I cannot believe that I used to be so bitter, not to mention how much damage I did to Lady Hinata. I'm honestly both surprised and thankful I didn't make a lung collapse." (3)

"Not to mention lucky, Neji-niisan," a fairly young female voice called out, getting Neji and his teammates to turn around. As such, they saw Neji's cousins Hinata and Hanabi come walking up. It was Hanabi who had called out. "If you _did_ do any serious damage to Onee-sama, you'd be on my brown list for life," Hanabi remarked. (4)

"Now Hanabi, Neji-niisan was in a very dark place at the time," Hinata said in a mildly scolding tone to her younger sister.

"With all due respect, Lady Hanabi is completely in the right for feeling that way," Neji said to his cousin, "Lady Hinata, what I did to you during our match in the chunnin exams is downright unforgivable. Which is why I'm surprised that you aren't holding it against me."

Shaking her head gently, Hinata replied, "You just needed someone to help get you out of that darkness, Neji-niisan."

"Like that blonde guy who kicked your butt," Hanabi said to her older cousin, drawing some good-natured chuckling from Rock Lee and some giggling from Tenten.

Sighing in a defeated tone, Neji said, "Yes, yes, like Naruto."

"Speaking of Naruto-kun," Rock Lee began, "A number of fathers tried asking him to marry their daughters, but all of those requests have stopped. Does this mean that Naruto-kun has finally picked some lucky girl to be his betrothed?"

"Well Shikamaru did scrap that list he was using to keep track of all of the marriage offers that Naruto was receiving," Neji replied in a knowing manner, "So I assume that Naruto did accept one of the offers, or at the very least is dating a girl." (5)

"Ah, I bet that whoever that girl is, she must be the luckiest girl in Konoha since she is with Naruto-kun," Rock Lee remarked.

Giggling cutely, Hinata said, "Well, I bet that whoever that girl is, she'd thank you for the complement. I also bet that the girl's father must be working himself up due to the fact that his daughter is going to get married soon."

"Well as the father of the bride, that is to be expected," Tenten remarked, "Fathers are notoriously overprotective of their daughters, after all." Regarding the two Hyuga girls with a questioning look, Tenten continued, "The two of you _have_ heard of how Mr. Yamanaka treats Sai, right?"

"Just what exactly does Ino's father have against artistic guys?" Hinata asked rhetorically.

Shaking her head, Tenten said, "No one knows, Hinata. All I know is that Mr. Yamanaka is behaving just like any normal dad; a goofy yet well-meaning overprotective buffoon."

"Tenten has a point about dads being protective of their daughters," Rock Lee said, "In fact, dads are equally proud of their sons, if what I heard is correct."

Nodding in the affirmative, Tenten said, "Yeah, fathers are proud of their sons." Turning to face Neji, Tenten said, "In fact, Neji, I bet that your father would be proud of you if he was around to see you."

A small but sad smile on his face, Neji replied, "Yeah." Looking up into the sky, Neji continued, "I bet that he would."

* * *

Later in the afternoon, close to evening, Neji was walking through one of the streets in Konoha. The Hyuga prodigy was thinking about his late father, Hizashi Hyuga. Looking at his right hand, Neji opened and closed it slowly in an absentminded manner. A sad look on his face, Neji thought, " _Would_ … _would father be proud of me_?"

"Well, well, well," a rough woman's voice called out, getting Neji's attention. Looking up, Neji saw that Pirate Inuzuka was just a few feet ahead. Neji did not know who Pirate was exactly; in fact, all that he knew about Pirate was that she was a member of the Inuzuka clan, and that's just because she had the traditional red fang facial markings on her face. "What's a member of the Hyuga clan's cadet branch doing," Pirate began in a mildly taunting tone, "Walking around Konoha with a somber look on his face? Don't tell me that someone in your faction of the Hyuga got their brain scrambled by that birdy curse mark on their head."

"I'll have you know I was just thinking about my late father," Neji replied with a scowl while speaking in an annoyed tone, "He gave his life back when I was four to save his loved ones." The scowl somewhat melting back into the somber expression Neji was wearing prior to running into the Inuzuka kunoichi, the Hyuga prodigy continued, "To save me."

"Mmm, is this related to those bastard Kumo bastards who tried giving the Hyuga a big middle finger a while back?" Pirate asked, a mildly confused look on her face.

"It is," Neji replied, "My father, who looked identical to Lord Hiashi, gave is life to serve as a decoy when Kumo demanded Lord Hiashi's body."

"Oh yeah, now I remember," Pirate remarked, "I think those bastard Kumo bastards were only playing nice with Konoha back then just so they can get into our village and try to take someone from your clan in order to get ahold of the Byakugan." Hands on her hips, Pirate said, "If it makes you feel any better, the Inuzuka clan is more steamed at those bastard Kumo bastards than we are at you guys." (6)

"Gee, thanks," Neji replied in a bemused tone, "Although I should warn you that my clan is still rather 'steamed' at the Inuzuka clan for the stunt that Kiba tried pulling during the Chunnin Tournament." Giving Pirate a mildly questioning look, Neji asked, "You belong to the Inuzuka clan, don't you? I don't suppose you know who Kiba is, do you?"

Right as Neji finished his first question, a look of realization mixed with consideration and planning crossed Pirate's face, but the look wasn't there long enough for the Hyuga prodigy to notice. "…All I know is that Kiba's ma Tsume is the leader of our little pack," Pirate replied, "Although if you ask me, I think that Kuromaru is the real brains of the operation." (7)

"I can't argue with that," Neji replied with an indifferent shrug.

"So back to the subject of yer pa," Pirate said, "You say that he gave his live to save those that he loved, did you not?"

"Yes," Neji replied with a small but growing hint of pride in his tone, "My father willingly gave his life so that-"

"They actually have you believing that load?" Pirate interrupted with a laugh, cutting the Hyuga prodigy off, "Oh, that is rich!"

Giving the Inuzuka kunoichi a questioning look, Neji asked, "What are you talking about?"

"It's clear that whoever sold you that load about yer pa 'willingly giving his life' was pulling the wool over your eyes," Pirate scoffed, "From what I've come to understand about your clan, the main branch can pretty much do whatever it wants to the cadet branch, whenever it wants. Those main branch stiffs must have forced yer pa into giving his life against his will."

"How dare you," Neji growled angrily, "I know for a fact that my father gave his life willingly. I was even given a hand-written letter he wrote explaining to me what he did and why he did it!"

Arching an eyebrow, Pirate remarked, "How do you know it was yer pa who wrote it?"

Neji was caught by surprise by the question that the Inuzuka kunoichi asked. "What do you mean?" asked the Hyuga prodigy.

"Do you have anything else hand-written by yer pa to compare the letter to?" Pirate asked, "How else would you know yer pa wrote that letter, and that the letter wasn't written by some random main branch member, only for someone to hand you that letter while claiming that yer pa wrote it?" Cracking her neck a bit, Pirate added, "Sounds pretty fishy to me, if ya want my opinion."

"And _my_ opinion," Neji snapped in a defensive tone, "Is that you have no idea what you're talking about! Why would my father _not_ want to give his life willingly?!"

"You," Pirate replied, drawing a surprised expression out of Neji while making him take pause. Straightening herself a bit, Pirate continued, "Why would yer pa want to buy the barn when he's got you to look after? No parent wants to die while they got a small child to look after."

"I was at the top of the list of people my father gave his live to save," Neji said angrily, "I'm still here because of him! Besides which, Konoha had no other choice if war with Kumo was to be avoided!"

"Is that what they told you?" Pirate asked, hands on her hips, "That there weren't any other options? I have heard that members of your faction of the Hyuga tend to act a bit cold towards the main branch stiffs, so tell me. Did yer pa have any negative feelings at all towards the main branch stiffs?"

"That's not…untrue," Neji admitted.

Smirking somewhat, Pirate said, "I knew it. The main branch stiffs used the Kumo chaos as a chance to off some troublesome cadet branch member that was being too uppity for their tastes. Then to smooth feathers out, they feed you some load about how yer pa 'willingly gave his life'." Scoffing, Pirate added, "And here the good folks of Konoha think that the Inuzuka clan are a bunch of savages."

Turning around, Pirate said, "I can see that you see some sense, but if I were you, I'd do a little digging for myself. See what the main branch stiffs are really hiding. Later."

As Pirate walked off, Neji just stood there, looking down at the ground. As much as the Hyuga prodigy hated to admit it, the Inuzuka woman had a point. Did his father willingly give his life to protect his loved ones, or did the main branch simply used an opportunity to get rid of a member of the cadet branch that they saw as a (potential) troublemaker?

It was then that Neji realized that the Inuzuka woman had another valid point. This was going to require some digging.

* * *

The following morning, Neji was in a storage room on the top floor of the Hyuga clan estate. The Hyuga prodigy remember being told that a box containing all of his late father's remaining earthly possessions was kept in this storage room. With this in mind, Neji figured that there might be _something_ that his father wrote by hand in that box. Within two minutes of searching, Neji found the box he was looking for; it was sitting on top of a box that had 'Omiyo's things' written on the side.

Neji picked up the box and sat it on the floor of the storage room, then knelt down to open it. As Neji opened the box, he heard Hanabi call out, "Oh, fancy seeing you here, Neji-niisan." The Hyuga prodigy looked up to see the youngest of his two younger cousins walk into the storage room. A brown-haired boy who wore glasses had accompanied her, but Neji paid him no mind.

Sighing in a slightly exasperated tone (he did not really appreciate the interruption), Neji asked, "Is there anything I can help you with, Lady Hanabi?" The tone that Neji used was business-like and somewhat cool, like the tone he used to use prior to having some sense knocked into him by Naruto during the chunnin exams. But Hanabi, seemingly set on a goal, failed to pick up on the shift in her older cousin's tone.

"Oh, I told Udon that there was one of those beaded-math thingies in the box containing my mom's things," Hanabi explained, "You know, the beaded-math thingies that nerds used as a calculator in the old days before actual calculators existed."

"…You mean an abacus?" Neji asked, his new found (or rather newly regained) cool attitude momentarily replaced with one of complete bafflement and confusion.

"Yeah, that," Hanabi replied with a nod in the affirmative as she pointed to Neji in a commending manner.

"I wanna see if it's any cooler than the one I have at my place," Udon remarked.

Sighing, Neji jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "The box containing your mother's things should be behind me," Neji remarked as his newly regained cool attitude returned, albeit mixed with a bit of exasperation. As Hanabi and her guest went about their task, Neji resumed his. Looking into the open box containing his late father's possessions, Neji shifted around, looking for anything that may have been hand-written or at least has enough handwriting on it or in it to use for comparison purposes.

Soon enough, Neji found what appeared to be a small, personal journal. (8) Picking it up out of the box, Neji saw that it was a fancy, leather-bound journal that a man would normally keep. "Wow, it's one of those big, fancy numbers," Hanabi's voice could be heard speaking up from behind Neji.

"It looks pretty much like the one I own," Udon's voice remarked as Neji examined the personal journal he found. There was a sort of lock on the journal, not unlike what one would normally find on a young girl's diary. Neji tried and failed to find a key inside of the box that could be used to unlock the journal, but Neji figured that he could just pop the lock open by jabbing it with a screwdriver and ponding the end of the handle with a hammer. After returning everything else was he had taken out into the box, Neji took the journal and placed it in his ninja weapons pouch, closed the box back up, got up and left the storage room.

Later, in Neji's room in the Hyuga estate, Neji took the journal back out. Using a kunai instead of a screwdriver, Neji jabbed the point against the lock, popping the lock open. Setting the kunai aside, Neji opened the journal and read the first page his eyes fell upon. To the Hyuga prodigy's surprise, the entry that he read was talking about him;

 _Neji is coming along in his training quite well_. _Better than I could have hoped or anticipated_. _I once again curse that he had been born into the cadet branch_ , _rather than in the main branch where talent such as his would not only be appreciated_ , _but allowed to flourish_.

Having kept the letter that his late father (supposedly) wrote to him, Neji took it out in order to compare handwriting. He saw, to his shock, that the handwriting in the letter was vastly different compared to that of his late father's journal. " _This_ … _this can_ ' _t be_ ," Neji thought as he closed his father's journal. Setting aside both the journal and the letter, the latter of the two apparently having been forged after all, Neji realized, to his shock, that the Inuzuka woman from earlier had actually been right.

" _From what I_ ' _ve come to understand about your clan_ , _the main branch can pretty much do whatever it wants to the cadet branch_ , _whenever it wants_. _Those main branch stiffs must have forced yer pa into giving his life against his will_."

Neji closed his eyes as bitter tears rolled down the sides of his face. He felt that he wasn't the genius that others say he is; otherwise, he wouldn't have been tricked as easily as he had been. As Neji sat on his bed, he heard a knocking at his bedroom door. "Oi, Neji," Ko's voice came from the other side of the door, "Lord Hiashi needs you to go find and pick up Lady Hinata." Opening his eyes, Neji's face became a certain, familiar scowl.

"…I'll get right on it," Neji called back in a cool tone.

* * *

At a cinnamon roll specialty shop located somewhere in Konoha, Hinata was getting something to eat with Sakura Haruno. The two girls were surprisingly close friends, with Sakura even feeling (and saying) that Hinata was her best friend. …But then again, Hinata had never said an unkind word to Sakura, nor did Hinata ever break off her friendship with Sakura in order to compete with her for the affections of a boy. Helping that last part is the fact that Sakura and Hinata both crushed on two completely different guys.

…Which is part of the reason why Hinata wanted to get a little bit of a lunch with Sakura; the Hyuga chunnin told the pink-haired chunnin that she wanted to get something off of her chest, and that she, her best friend, was the only person she felt that she could talk to while counting on her to keep what she said a secret.

"Congratulations, Hinata!" Sakura exclaimed as loudly as she dared, "I can't believe that your father would actually ask him, much less him accepting! This is the best thing ever!"

Squirming around a bit in her seat in an embarrassed manner as she blushed in a likewise manner, Hinata replied, "Th-thank you, Sakura. I'm honestly surprised that he'd actually accept my father's request. I'm still having trouble believing that he did accept my father's request." Looking down at the top of the booth's table, at the place where her large cinnamon roll sat, the Hyuga chunnin added, "That he…accepted…me."

"I see you've still got a bit of your old insecurity to shake off, Hinata," Sakura remarked with a knowing smile. Laying her right hand on Hinata's left shoulder in a comforting gesture, Sakura continued, "But hey, the guy you've been in love with since forever is going to be yours forever. That should be a confidence booster."

A small but sincere smile appearing on her face, Hinata looked up at her best friend. "…Thank you, Sakura," Hinata replied. As Sakura took her hand off of Hinata's shoulder, the front door of the cinnamon roll specialty shop opened, and Neji walked in. Seeing her older cousin walk in, Hinata waived him over.

"There you are," Neji remarked as he came up to where his younger cousin sat. Both girls had completely failed to pick up on the sudden coolness of Neji's tone. "Your father is looking for you, Lady Hinata," Neji said, "And had sent me to find you. It's best not to keep him waiting."

"Oh, okay," Hinata replied as she got up. Picking up the rest of her cinnamon roll, Hinata said to Sakura, "I have to get going, Sakura. Thanks again for talking to me."

"Take care, Hinata," Sakura said, "I'll catch you later." After the two girls said their good-byes to each other, Hinata took her leave with Neji.

* * *

As the two Hyuga clan members walked back to the Hyuga clan estate, Neji said, "Hey, Lady Hinata."

"Hmm?" the Hyuga chunnin replied, "What is it, Neji-niisan?"

"I was…just thinking," Neji remarked, "About the recent Chunnin Tournament."

"Yes, the Chunnin Tournament," Hinata said with a small smile, "It's really great that Naruto-kun won the tournament, and that he's now a jonin." Looking up from the ground to turn and face Neji, Hinata added, "Same as you, Neji-niisan."

"Mmm hmm," Neji replied in a neutral tone, "Naruto certainly put on quite a show. But then again, everyone else who competed did a good job at capturing the attention of those who watched the matches." Pausing for a few seconds, Neji added, "Kiba, in particular."

A mildly unsure look on her face, Hinata said, "Well, it's wouldn't be untrue to say that Kiba-kun got everyone's attention with the way he fought in his matches." Holding her right hand over her throat gently, Hinata continued in an unsure tone, "Kiba-kun certainly gave his all in the matches he fought in."

"It's a shame that such effort and skill hasn't been recognized," Neji remarked coolly, "Wouldn't you agree, Lady Hinata?"

"W-well, Neji-n-niisan," Hinata said nervously as she started to notice the cool tone that her cousin was using, "With all d-due respect, Kiba-k-kun was rather b-brutal in his matches." Looking a little sad, Hinata added, "Kiba-k-kun did almost k-kill me."

"You speak as if you're a stranger to the concept of nearly being killed in a combat tournament," Neji remarked casually in his cool tone. Giving his cousin a mild scowling glare, the Hyuga prodigy added, "Or have you forgotten?"

"Y-yes," Hinata stammered nervously, "You and I f-fought each other b-back during the ch-chunnin exams." Gulping nervously, Hinata said, "Y-you aren't still b-beating yourself up over w-what you did, are y-you, Neji-n-niisan?"

"No," Neji replied coolly, "I do not 'beat myself up', as you put it, over what I did to you back then." Straightening himself somewhat, Neji continued, "Although in regards to your match against Kiba during the Chunnin Tournament, I do feel upset."

Smiling in a somewhat relaxed manner, Hinata said, "Oh, I see. You're upset that Kiba-kun-"

"Didn't finish my job for me," Neji interrupted, cutting his younger cousin off while setting a degree of fear into her heart. Turning to face his cousin, Neji continued, "I'm even more upset that I actually played a part in keeping Kiba from doing so. I should probably send him an apology letter."

"W-what are y-you saying, Neji-n-niisan?" Hinata stammered nervously, her fear and worry steadily growing more and more by the second as she slowly took a step back.

Regarding his younger cousin with a glaring sneer, Neji said, "How does it feel to have been born into privilege? To have others serving and waiting on you? To have the freedom to _lie to those same people for years on end_?" As his Byakugan activated, Neji scoffed, "Feh. I bet that you think that it's a very good thing, _Lady_ Hinata."

Before Hinata could ask Neji what was wrong, the Hyuga prodigy made a quick thrust at her with his left hand. Hinata was able to dodge the strike, and ran into an alleyway on her left, with Neji in pursuit. Hinata found an open doorway along the side of a building in the alleyway, and discovered, upon running through the doorway for safety, that she was in an unoccupied factory warehouse, seemingly abandoned.

" _What has gotten into Neji_ - _niisan_?" Hinata thought worriedly as she breathed hard to catch her breath, trying and failing to calm her nerves. The Hyuga chunnin knew full well that she would not be able to hide from her cousin; being a Hyuga same as Hinata, Neji had the Byakugan, which allowed him to, among other things, see through obstacles. (9)

Panic making her mind race, Hinata quickly looked around in the factory room she was in. looking up into the air, Hinata saw a suspended metal walkway, connected to a second-floor office room. Jumping up onto the metal walkway, Hinata quickly ran to the office room. Sighing in relief that the door was unlocked, Hinata opened the door, ran inside, closed the door behind her, and started shoving various furniture in front of the door in a make-shift barricade.

After having shoved the large desk that was in the office in front of the office door, followed by shoving the two-seater sofa that was also in the room right up against the desk, Hinata sat on the floor in the upper right corner of the office room (if you're just walking into the office). As she sat on the floor, Hinata breathed quickly in panic; her heart nearly leapt into her throat when she heard Neji's voice angrily call out, "I know you're in this factory somewhere!"

Shivering in fright, Hinata quickly reached into her weapons pouch to pull something out; it was a three-pronged kunai that had some writing on the handle. Gripping the handle of the three-pronged kunai, Hinata focused her chakra into her hands as she thought, " _Please work_ , _please work_ , _please work_ , _please wo_ -"

"NEJI!" the familiar voice of Sakura Haruno screamed angrily from outside, getting Hinata's attention. Hinata listened carefully as she continued to focus her chakra to her hands.

"What are you doing here?" Neji's voice could be heard scoffing.

"I was trying to catch up to you and Hinata since Hinata forgot her bag back at the cinnamon roll place and I was trying to return it to her," Sakura's voice could be heard explaining in an angry tone, "As I ran to catch up to you guys, someone told me that he saw one member of the Hyuga clan chase another into an alleyway, then pointed me in the right direction when I had asked. I saw you running around this abandoned factory from an open doorway in the alleyway, so I came in after you." After a second of silence, Sakura's voice continued, "Where's Hinata?"

"That is none of your business," Neji's voice scoffed.

"LIKE HELL IT ISN'T!" Sakura's voice exclaimed, and not two seconds later, the sound of something large, heavy and solid being destroyed could be heard. After a few more seconds, Sakura could be heard going, "URK!"

"Relax," Neji's voice could be heard sneering in an indifferent tone, "I just jabbed your stomach. Although you'll still be out of commission for roughly twenty-four hours." A few seconds later, Neji's voice said, "Now then, where is…Ah, in that office room." A few more seconds later, Hinata jolted when she heard someone trying to open the door, only to fail because of the makeshift barricade she had set up in her panic. "If you think a bunch of furniture can save you," Neji's voice shouted from the other side of the door, "Then you're nowhere near as smart as anyone has ever given you cred-"

Neji was cut off when the sound of all of the metal walkway being torn up and out of foundations sounded from the other side of the door; the tearing of the metal walkway was followed by the roaring of a large and angry beast. Peeking through the window of the office room that allowed one to look into the factory room, Hinata saw a gigantic nine-tailed fox in the factory. Being at least as big as massive summoning familiars such as Gamabunta, the nine-tailed fox was seemingly made of chakra that glowed brightly in a yellow-orange color, save for intricate black markings all over its body.

Opening the window that she was looking out of, Hinata peeked out to get a better look at what was going on. Looking down to the floor of the factory, Hinata saw that her berserk cousin was lying face-up on the factory floor, pinned to the floor by the front right paw of the massive fox. Taking a closer look at the massive fox itself, Hinata saw that Naruto Uzumaki, her fiancé, was floating roughly in the middle of the fox's head; the blonde jonin had a clearly unconscious Sakura slung over his right shoulder.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU, NEJI?!" Naruto exclaimed as he glared angrily down at the factory floor, "WHY WOULD YOU ATTACK SAKURA LIKE THIS?!"

"S-she got in the way of clan business," Neji coughed out as loudly as he could as he struggled under the pressing weight of the chakra fox's right front paw, "I just knocked her out is all."

"Clan business?" Naruto repeated in a confused tone. Realizing almost instantly what Neji was talking about, Naruto pressed on, applying more pressure to the paw that kept Neji pinned; although it was just a little bit more pressure, size differences between Neji and the chakra fox made the very slight change seem like a very _vast_ change. "Where is Hinata?" Naruto demanded angrily in a worried tone that had more than just a hint of panic.

"I said it's c-clan business," Neji coughed out once again as he continued to struggle under the weight, "Why should I-"

"ANSWER NARUTO'S QUESTION, HUMAN!" a male voice that was vastly different from Naruto's voice bellowed angrily at Neji, cutting off the pinned Hyuga prodigy; from where she hid, Hinata realized that it was the chakra fox itself that had shouted. Hinata then realized that the chakra fox was actually a physical form that Kurama, the nine-tailed demon fox which was sealed within Naruto, can assume thanks to working hand-in-hand with his host. "ANSWER HIS QUESTION!" Kurama bellowed, "WHERE IS THE GIRL?!"

"Naruto!" Hinata called out as she peeked through the open window of the office room. Kurama's head turned in the direction Hinata's voice came from, and as such Naruto saw Hinata in the open window of the office room, waiving at him. With his free hand, Naruto reached into a weapons pouch and pulled out a three-pronged kunai with writing on the handle, then gave Hinata a knowing smirk.

"Why didn't you just use your phone to call me?" (10) Naruto asked, a vast amount of relief on his face and in his tone as he put the three-pronged kunai away back into his weapons pouch.

"It's in my bag, which I left at the cinnamon roll place where Sakura and I were eating at a few minutes ago," Hinata called out, "I think I heard Sakura say something about trying to return my bag to me."

"You want I should crush this human?" Kurama offered the Hyuga chunnin.

"I'd…rather you didn't," Hinata replied to the tailed beast, "Neji-niisan just needs someone to help him out of the darkness that he's fallen back into."

"Can I at least kill his female teammate?" Kurama asked.

"W…what?" Hinata replied in a dumbfounded tone.

"Kurama, we are not going to kill Tenten, no matter how many times you ask," Naruto said from within the chakra fox's head.

"Oh, come on!" Kurama exclaimed.

* * *

About thirty minutes later, everyone was sorted out; Sakura was at her family's home, resting in bed, and Hinata was in a den room in the Hyuga clan estate, watching a fantasy movie about an alliance of elves, dwarves and humans fighting an evil army. (11) Naruto, who was alarmed about the danger that Hinata was in earlier, was sitting right next to Hinata on a loveseat in the den, keeping her company.

As for Neji, he was sitting on the side of his bed in his room, with a stern-faced Hiashi standing before him. "…Normally," Hiashi began in a neutral tone, "If someone from our clan's cadet branch tried to harm someone from our clan's main branch, I would have punished that cadet branch member by activating the seal on their forehead." His expression becoming somewhat grim, the Hyuga lord continued, "Even if it's you that has to be punished."

When Neji just turned his head to face his left, unwilling to look his uncle in the face, Hiashi continued, "However, I am electing not to trigger the curse mark on your forehead, partly because of what I heard Naruto did to restrain you, but mostly because Hinata had specifically asked me not to do so."

"Wow, and here I thought that what I heard about the main branch being generous was a lie," Neji remarked in a mildly sarcastic tone.

Sighing in a resigned tone, Hiashi looked at his nephew with a defeated expression; it is not every day that the expression of the leader of the Hyuga clan could be described as 'looking defeated'. "Why, Neji?" Hiashi asked in a tone that resonated mildly with regret, "Why would you do something like this?"

"Why would _YOU_ lie to me all these years?!" Neji snapped back, getting up to his feet.

"Lie to you?" the Hyuga lord repeated in a confused tone, "What are you talking about?"

In response to his uncle's questioning, Neji turned to face his nightstand and pulled it open, removing the journal that he had found in the box of his father's belongings earlier. "I found this journal in the box that contains my father's belongings," Neji explained with a bitter scowl on his face, "I managed to undo the lock so I could open it and compare the writing inside to that on the 'letter' I was given."

Looking at the journal that his nephew held, Hiashi remarked with a confused expression, "How did my old journal get into the box containing my late brother's belongings?"

" _Your_ journal?!" Neji snapped, "What do you mean _your_ journal?!"

Gently taking the journal from his nephew, Hiashi opened the front cover, turned the journal around, and showed Neji the inside of the journal's front cover; the name 'Hiashi Hyuga' was written in the upper left corner of the inside of the front cover. Seeing this, the Hyuga prodigy was momentarily dumbfounded. "Why were you even looking through that box in the first place, Neji?" Hiashi asked, his curiosity slowly beginning to outweigh all other emotions the Hyuga lord was feeling at the moment.

"I had reason to believe that the letter I was given was forged," Neji spat bitterly as he got over his dumbfounded feeling, "That it was a part of some elaborate scheme by the main branch to placate me." Glaring at his uncle, Neji continued, "I'm ashamed to admit that the scheme had worked. At least until that woman had helpfully pointed out the flaws in the main branch's scheme to placate me, that is."

"Woman?" Hiashi repeated in a confused tone, "What woman?"

"An Inuzuka clan kunoichi," Neji explained, "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," Hiashi remarked as he face-palmed, "You do know how most Inuzuka clan women have been acting towards the Hyuga clan as of late, don't you? How their influence on Tsume's son led him to try to kill Hinata?"

"What of it?" Neji asked casually, his arms crossed.

"You actually _listened_ to that woman?" Hiashi asked, "You actually listened to a woman who clearly had a vendetta against the Hyuga clan? What else did she say?" Realizing that his uncle may actually have a valid point, Neji went on to describe the conversation he had with the Inuzuka kunoichi from earlier. By the time that he finished describing the conversation he had, Neji realized that the Inuzuka kunoichi had actually manipulated him.

"What did this Inuzuka kunoichi look like?" Hiashi asked.

"I remember that she was roughly as tall as Kiba's mother," Neji described, "But her hair was much longer. I'd say about fifty percent longer. I think that her hair was also a different shade of brown, probably lighter, but I don't quite remember. Although I do remember the red fang markings on her face looked a little wider than what's standard for the Inuzuka clan."

"That will do for now, Neji," Hiashi replied with a sigh, "I'm going to look into this whole mess, and get to the bottom of everything. In the meanwhile, I want you to stay here and think about what you've done. Being manipulated by a woman that has a vendetta against the Hyuga clan is no excuse for you to try and kill my first-born daughter."

After the Hyuga lord left him alone in the room, Neji sat back down on his bed, his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands. Neji couldn't believe what he had done, or rather had tried to do. He also couldn't believe what he had said to his cousin while he had temporarily slipped back into his old hostile personality. Shaking his head, Neji knew what he had to do, once his uncle came back and allowed him to leave the room.

* * *

Later that evening, Neji had been retrieved from his room by Hiashi, who admitted mild surprise that Neji actually followed the instructions of staying in the room right down to the letter. When Hiashi led him out into a main room, Neji saw that Harold Fisher and Inoichi Yamanaka were both standing there. "Hiashi, I request your permission to kick your nephew in his coin purse," Harold said.

"What?" Hiashi remarked with a confused look on his face, "Harold, no."

"He jabbed my niece in the stomach with his Hyuga magic," Harold pointed out, "My right foot desires to score a critical hit!"

Sighing, Hiashi said, "I brought you and Inoichi here so that the two of you can tell Neji things from your point of view."

"What are you talking about?" Neji asked as he turned to face his uncle.

"Neji," Inoichi began, "This may surprise you to learn, but Harold and I were both present for the meeting to discuss the demands that the Land of Lightning were making back when your uncle killed the Kumo head jonin when he and a bunch of Kumo ninja visited Konoha to discuss a possible peace treaty." Sighing, Inoichi said, "You better get comfortable, Neji, because this one is quite the doozey…"

(FLASHBACK)

"This…this cannot be happening," Inoichi said in a shocked tone as he and Harold stood among members of the main and cadet branches of the Hyuga clan, along with Hiruzen Sarutobi and some other members of Konoha government. Standing roughly in the middle of the meeting were Hiashi and Hizashi, the latter having some white cloth wrapped over his forehead.

"Inoichi is right, Hizashi," Hiashi said to his younger twin brother, "You don't have to do this. You shouldn't have to do this."

"I have made up my mind, Hiashi," Hizashi replied in a tone of acceptance, "If doing so will protect those who I love, then I will gladly serve as your body double."

"But Hizashi," Hiashi began, "What about your son? What about Neji?"

A small smile on his face, Hizashi said, "Well then, Hiashi, I guess that you had better keep an eye on him for me."

"This…no, this shouldn't have to be done," Hiashi remarked as he stepped forward, "I cannot rightfully send my own brother to his-" Hiashi was cut off when Hizashi rushed forward and struck him in his gut. "H…Hizashi…" Hiashi said in a mildly somber tone as he fell over onto the floor.

As the older twin struggled to get up, Hizashi said, "If I let you have your way, then not only will I lose my brother, but I will also lose all of my loved ones, not to mention the village that I love. Hiashi, please. This is for the best." Turning to his side, Hizashi continued saying to his older twin brother, "Do me a favor, Hiashi, and make sure that you tell Neji why I've done this. Don't forget to make sure that you also hand him that letter I wrote, alright?"

"You're more of a man than the rest of our group combined, Hizashi," Harold remarked in a mildly somber tone as he gave Hizashi double thumbs-up, "Top kek, man. Top kek."

"Harold's got a point, dude," Inoichi remarked, "At least have one more Pape Konoha's with Harold, Tsume, Kuromaru and me before you do this."

"As much as I would love to knock back one final cold one with you guys," Hizashi replied, "Time is of the essence in this matter. But if you bros could do me a solid and help Hiashi keep tabs on Neji for me, that would be wicked."

With tears in their eyes, Harold and Inoichi both saluted Hizashi. "You can count on us, my good man," Harold replied.

"You're leaving your son in good hands, Hizashi," Inoichi said as he agreed with the point that Harold had made, "And if I am wrong, then may your son and Tsume's son both attempt to kill your niece at some point." (12)

"I hope that doesn't happen," Hiashi muttered weakly as he just managed to get to his feet. …Only to be knocked back over onto the floor by Hizashi one second later.

"Stay down for this, Hiashi," Hizashi remarked, "It'll save so much trouble in the long run." As he laid on the floor, Hiashi watched as Hizashi was led away by some Hyuga clan elders, Hiruzen, Harold and Inoichi. "You know, bros," Hizashi said to Harold and Inoichi in a causal conversational tone as they all walked, "If Neji _does_ try to kill Lady Hinata at some point, I hope he goes for her lungs. You know, to be original."

(FLASHBACK OVER)

"Your father, like Inoichi, Tsume, Kuromaru and myself, was a fellow bro," Harold said to the Hyuga prodigy, "But the sacrifice that he made for those that he loved proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was a true bro, a true man." Inhaling and exhaling, the pink-haired jonin said to Neji, "He was a man that anyone would be proud to have as a father."

"And a man that any other man would be proud to have as a brother," Hiashi remarked with a somber nod. Turning to face Neji, Hiashi said, "Harold and Inoichi do not lie, Neji. Your father did in fact willingly choose to give his life to save everyone that he held dear to his heart. And you, Neji, were at the top of that list." Sighing, Hiashi remarked, "The fact that Kumo has been acting up more and more as of late is just further besmirching the sacrifice your father made."

"Not…" Neji began slowly, "…As much as I have, Lord Hiashi." Shaking his head, Neji remarked in a regretful tone as tears started welling up in the corners of his eyes, "I seriously cannot believe that I relapsed back to how I used to be. I also cannot believe that I said what I did to Lady Hinata, not to mention that I tried to slay her once again."

"Yeah, about that one, Neji," Harold said, "Inoichi, your uncle, two of your uncle's men and I had just come back from the Inuzuka clan compound to ask Tsume about women in her clan that match the description you gave your uncle. We got no less than six possible candidates who all have a beef with the Hyuga, one of which being Tsume's own younger twin sister Pirate. We may need you to pick out a suspect from a line-up."

"If I could be allowed to apologize to Lady Hinata and Sakura first," Neji replied, "Or at the very least try to apologize to them, that is. I'm not sure if Sakura will be willing to hear me out."

"I'll have little Cherry Bug hear you out, Neji," Harold assured the Hyuga prodigy, "And even explain a few things to her. But you may also want to add that blonde boy Sakura is friends with to your list of people you have to apologize to. For reasons that escape both Inoichi and I, that blonde boy seemed awfully upset with what you tried to do to your cousin."

Smiling somewhat in a knowing manner, Neji replied, "Sorry, Mr. Fisher, but I'm afraid that you and Mr. Yamanaka will have to wait a bit for an explanation on that one. But yeah, I'll apologize to Naruto as well." The older adults led Neji out of the room, so that he could begin the process of making apologies to those who he had wronged. As Neji walked with the adults, the Hyuga prodigy silently swore to himself that he would never allow anyone, Inuzuka or otherwise, get to him ever again.

END, BEFORE THE REDEMPTION CHAPTER NINE

Author's notes:

(1) This is around the time that Neji started to develop an honest and obedient respect for the main branch.

(2) Ko has done things that even _Harold_ isn't dumb enough to do.

(3) In this timeline, Neji struck Hinata's lungs instead. This will be explained in a future 'Harold' chapter.

(4) Due to a mix of me wanting to avoid full out cursing and me not being able to imagine Hanabi using vulgar language, she's saying 'brown list' instead. One should be able to tell what she actually means.

(5) Like Hiashi, Neji is being quiet about Hinata's engagement to Naruto at Hinata's request.

(6) Pirate is being honest here; the Inuzuka clan really _does_ feel this way. This is also the  only nice thing that Pirate will willingly say about the Hyuga.

(7) This is…not _un_ true.

(8) About the general size and thickness of the average manga graphic novel.

(9) In Hanabi's early childhood, she would often ask Hinata to play hide-and-seek with her, with a rule that barred both sisters from using their respective Byakugan.

(10) Personal cell phones exist by this point, albeit in primitive forms.

(11) Think LOTR.

(12) Harold and his friends REALLY need to stop saying 'And if I am wrong, then may (insert random event here)'.

There's the ninth chapter done and over with, with the added bonus of giving Neji a lot of focus. Anywho, the next chapter is going to be the last chapter of 'Before the redemption'.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any properties in this work that I did not make myself.

Before the redemption

Chapter ten: Full circle

Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka and Choji Akimichi were heading out to grab lunch somewhere. The students of the late Asuma weren't alone, either; joining them were Ino's boyfriend Sai and Choji's girlfriend Karui. "You know, I bet that if Temari was in Konoha right now, we'd be able to get her to tag along as well," Ino remarked, "And make this something of a triple-date instead of a double-date with a third wheel."

"Gee, thank you so much for your brilliant insight, Ino," Shikamaru remarked sarcastically.

As the group of five shinobi walked, a group of regular citizen villagers on the other side of the street from the shinobi threw some empty cans of soda and crumpled up bits of trash at the shinobi, specifically aiming at Karui. "Go back to Kumo where you belong!" one of the villagers shouted in a jeering tone.

"OI!" Choji exclaimed angrily at the villagers, "You all leave Karui alone! She has nothing to do with them!"

"Why are you Konoha shinobi even defending the witch?" the only woman that was in the group of villagers shouted, "Do you know what her kind are up to?"

"Whatever it is that Kumogakure is up to," Shikamaru replied, "Karui has nothing to do with it, just like Choji says. Besides which, you lot should be more concerned about yourselves."

"What are you talking about?" asked a second male villager in the group.

"The lot of you just threw garbage at my companions and I," Shikamaru explained, "Keep in mind that four of us are _shinobi_. Pelting us with garbage is technically considered assault. It's a crime for villagers to assault shinobi here in Konoha, so if you all don't want to get arrested, I suggest that you make yourselves scarce." (1)

Realizing that Shikamaru had a point, the villagers made themselves scarce. After the villagers were gone, Choji turned to face Karui. "I am so sorry that those villagers decided to be a bunch of jerks to you, Karui," the Akimichi chunnin apologized.

"To be honest, I'm surprised that something like this hasn't happened before now," Karui remarked. With a mildly upset look on her face, Karui added, "Although that doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt me."

Sighing, Shikamaru remarked, "Forget them, Karui. Folks like them are small-minded cowards who only feel good by putting down someone else for whatever reason they can find to justify their actions. You should see how the villagers currently regard the Inuzuka clan, Kiba especially."

"You should have seen how they treated Naruto before he had a major role in ending the Fourth Great Ninja War," Choji added, "That dude save their sorry rear ends, and the rear ends of… pretty much everyone else, if you think about it. And that was all _before_ Naruto was promoted to chunnin."

"Didn't your father try to offer your cousin to Naruto in marriage a while ago?" Karui asked Choji.

"Yeah, pa tried to bring Naruto into the house of Akimichi," Choji replied, "But Naruto politely turned down pa's offer, although I think that it was mostly due to Naruto being so overwhelmed with practically every father in Konoha asking him to marry their daughters."

"I guess that's why he asked me to scrap the list I was using to keep track of all of the offers for him," Shikamaru said, "He must have decided to put the whole business on the back burner for the time being." (2)

"Naruto has come a long way, hasn't he?" Ino said.

"I'd certainly say so," Shikamaru replied, "I mean, it wasn't too long ago that the villagers treated Naruto worse than how those five villagers had treated Karui just now."

"Naruto was actually treated _worse_ than Karui was just now?" Sai asked, looking mildly shocked and appalled.

Nodding once in the affirmative, Shikamaru remarked, "On a consistent basis. But now that Naruto had made such a reputation for himself that men want him to marry their daughters, I think that Naruto's got nothing to worry about from here on out."

"Well I certainly hope so," Sai replied.

"Heh," Shikamaru said in a casual tone, "Trust me, dude. Naruto's pretty much set. He has no worries whatsoever."

* * *

Naruto Uzumaki was worried. Very much so, in fact.

The blonde jonin was thinking about where to take Hinata Hyuga, his fiancé, out to dinner that night. Due to the pay jump that Naruto has been seeing ever since he was promoted to jonin, Naruto could afford to take Hinata to any restaurant in Konoha. This was part of the cause for Naruto's worrying; he had NO idea which one to take the Hyuga chunnin to.

Hence why Naruto decided to consult Sakura Haruno for advice; not only was Sakura a longtime friend of Naruto's not to mention a fellow member of Team Kakashi, but Sakura and Hinata were also each other's best friends. Sakura also had the added benefit of (currently) being the only person outside of Hinata, Naruto and the Hyuga clan who is aware of Hinata and Naruto's engagement, so she would know why Naruto would ask her for advice on where to take Hinata out to dinner that night.

"Let Hinata pick where you guys go," Sakura suggested.

"Yeah, but what if Hinata picks some place that requires a reservation?" Naruto replied, "Or if she picks one of those places where you have to wait to be seated."

Giggling somewhat, Sakura said, "Wow, you've got more to learn about Hinata than I thought, Naruto. Chances are that she'll pick a place that's known for sweets, like that cake café that Kurenai-sensei always used to take her, Shino and Kiba to back when they were all genin, or that Cinnamon roll specialty shop she likes so much. Those places I just mentioned have the added benefit of being rather inexpensive, and knowing Hinata, she'd hate for you to have to spend too much on her."

"Sweets, huh?" Naruto remarked. After a few seconds, Naruto said, "Well that makes sense. I mean, Hinata's a really sweet person, so I guess her liking sweets has something to do with it."

Giggling somewhat, Sakura replied, "That's not quite how it works, Naruto." Regaining her composure after her brief giggle fit, Sakura regarded Naruto. "But yeah," the pink-haired chunnin continued, "Hinata is the sweetest person that you'll ever know. Thanks for choosing to marry Hinata out of all of the girls who were offered to you, Naruto."

A confused look on his face, the blonde jonin said, "You're thanking me for marrying Hinata? What for?"

Shaking her head gently, Sakura replied, "You have no idea how much Hinata had tried to make herself a better person in the hopes that you would at least notice her, how hard she had hoped that you would eventually ask her out. And now you and Hinata are going to get married. Do you have any idea how much all of this means to her?"

A knowing smile on his face, Naruto replied, "Well, I have the rest of my life to figure that out. A life I'll be sharing with Hinata."

Smiling back, Sakura said, "Yeah."

As the two friends talked, they heard a familiar voice call out, "Oi, Cherry Bug! Fancy seeing you here!"

Sighing in an exasperated tone, Sakura muttered to herself, "You have got to be kidding me."

Turning around, Sakura and Naruto came face-to-face with Sakura's uncle, Harold Fisher. With Harold at the time was his best friend Inoichi Yamanaka, who is the father of Sakura's friend Ino. "Is there anything I can help you with, Uncle Harold?" Sakura asked as she tried to sound as polite to her idiot uncle as possible.

"Well it concerns your friend here," Harold began as he pointed to Naruto.

"Huh? What did Naruto do?" Sakura asked, a confused look on her face.

"It's not something he did, but rather something he hasn't done yet," Harold explained, "Sakura, I am acting as a messenger for your father when I ask that Naruto here accepts you as his bride." Turning to face Inoichi, Harold said, "Dude, I am SO sorry about acting against your interests, but my brother-in-law is really keen on getting Naruto to marry little Cherry Bug here! I'd totally have your back with getting Naruto to marry Ino otherwise!"

"I cannot hold your actions against you, my good dude," Inoichi replied as he turned to face his best friend, "A true man puts family first. You, Harold, are a true man."

"Does this mean we're still friends?" Harold asked hopefully.

"Uhh, best friends!" Inoichi replied as he and Harold threw their arms around each other and hugged while crying prolifically. (3)

"Uncle Harold, I am not marrying Naruto!" Sakura snapped in an annoyed tone, "How many times do I have to tell that to you and dad?!"

"Oh, does that mean he'll marry Ino?" Inoichi asked in a curious tone. (4)

"No!" Sakura snapped.

As the pink-haired chunnin began to chew out the two adult jonin, Ko Hyuga came jogging up to the scene. "Ah, there you are, Naruto!" Ko greeted in a friendly tone as he came to a stop, "I was just sent to find you so I could get your opinion on something that Lord Hiashi wanted to do for the clan banquet next week." Noticing that Naruto was with Sakura, Ko asked, "I didn't interrupt you hanging out with your friends, did I?"

"Oh, I was just asking Sakura for ideas on where would be great places to have dinner dates at," Naruto explained.

"Ah, I see why Naruto's not wanting to accept either Sakura or my precious little princess as a wife," Inoichi remarked, "He's already got a girlfriend."

"Oh no, it's bigger than that," Ko replied to the two adult jonin, "Lady Hinata is engaged to Naruto after he had accepted Lord Hiashi's request to marry her." Looking around, Ko noticed that all four of the others that were present wore stunned looks, all four of them having been stunned into silence. "…Umm…What did I say?" Ko asked innocently in a confused tone.

"Ko…" Naruto began, "You were supposed to keep that a SECRET!"

"Uncle Harold, Mr. Yamanaka, don't either of you two even dare tell anyone about this," Sakura said as she pointed at the two adult jonin, "Or else I will break the both of you, even if it's only one of you who spills it." (5)

"I'll…tell your father that Naruto has a girlfriend," Harold replied to his niece in a humbled, understanding tone, "I'll also tell him that it would be kind of a real dick move on his part if he continued trying to push you onto Naruto."

"I'll…also tell Ino that Naruto found a girlfriend," Inoichi replied in the same tone as Harold, "I'll also tell Sai that my foot wants to score a critical hit." (6)

"And YOU!" Sakura exclaimed as she turned to face Ko, "How DARE you reveal that Hinata and Naruto are engaged. You knew full well that Hinata wanted to keep it a secret until she had the chance to get all of our friends together so she and Naruto can tell all of them together!"

"I forgot, okay?!" Ko exclaimed, looking like he was going to panic.

"How could you forget?" Naruto asked as he regarded the cadet Hyuga with a disappointed look, "Hinata couldn't have stressed her point enough."

"Wait, how does she know?" Ko asked, pointing at Sakura.

"Hinata told me about it in confidence," Sakura explained, "She was also about to ask me for advice, but that's when Neji came in to pick her up, and that's a whole other can of worms I don't really feel like opening right now."

"I will be sure to remember Lady Hinata's request in the future," Ko replied, "But that's not the main point here. I was sent to get Naruto's opinion for Lord Hiashi."

"I'll come along to tell him face-to-face," Naruto replied, "It'll also give me the chance to ask Hinata where she'd like for me to take her to for dinner tonight."

"I recommend that pasta place," Inoichi remarked, "Finest spaghetti in the Land of Fire. I took my wife Michelle to dinner there last week."

"I'll be sure to bring it up, Mr. Yamanaka," Naruto replied with a nod, "Thanks."

After Naruto took his leave with Ko, Sakura let out an exasperated sigh. " _And to think_ ," thought the pink-haired chunnin, " _I thought that Uncle Harold was the dumbest person alive_." (7)

* * *

(A FEW WEEKS LATER)

Six kunoichi from the Inuzuka clan were standing on one side of a one-way mirror in a police line-up. They had no idea who was looking at them on the other side of the mirror, but one thing that they were all certain of is that all of them were annoyed as all get out that they're being paraded around like this. On the other side of the one-way mirror were two standard Konoha shinobi accompanying Hiashi Hyuga, the leader of the Hyuga clan, along with Hiashi's nephew Neji. It was Neji who was putting in the most effort at trying to differentiate between all of the Inuzuka kunoichi.

"I really wish that we had been able to arrange for this sooner," Hiashi whispered to the two Konoha shinobi, "I don't think that the woman who tried influencing my nephew due to politics between the Hyuga and Inuzuka is in that line-up."

"There _is_ the chance that the woman may have altered her appearance some," the first Konoha shinobi whispered back, "Maybe dyed and/or cut her hair, used make-up to cover up or alter the appearance of her wider-than-normal red facial markings. If it wasn't for some of Konoha's clans raising a big stink about that Kumo kunoichi who's been granted political asylum here in Konoha, then Lady Tsunade would have been able to arrange for this line-up sooner."

"You…you don't say," the Hyuga lord replied, looking mildly embarrassed, and for a very good reason; the Hyuga is one of those aforementioned clans who's been raising a big stink about Karui's stay in Konoha.

"Excuse me," Neji interrupted, having turned around to face his uncle and the two Konoha shinobi, "I'm sorry, but the woman who planted doubts in my mind about the Hyuga clan isn't in the line-up."

"Those are the only women who fit the description, young man," the first Konoha shinobi pointed out, "Are you absolutely sure?"

Nodding in the affirmative, Neji continued, "I'm sorry, but I am positive that the woman we're looking for isn't in the line-up."

Sighing in a resigned tone, the second Konoha shinobi said, "Alright. I'll let those women know that they can return to their clan's compound if they wish." As the second Konoha shinobi left to go inform the Inuzuka kunoichi that they can leave, Neji turned to face Hiashi.

"Lord Hiashi, I…" Neji began, "…I am so sorry. About every-" Hiashi cut his nephew off by holding up his hand in a gesture meaning to tell Neji to be quiet.

"No, Neji," Hiashi replied in a mildly somber tone, "It's not really your fault. The messy business between the Hyuga and the Inuzuka…I should have explained things to you from the get-go, from when things started looking really bad for the Inuzuka in recent events."

"Is there anything that the Hyuga clan can do to try salvaging what little relationship it has left with the Inuzuka clan?" Neji asked.

"I have actually been working on something along those lines since before the Chunnin Tournament," Hiashi explained, "It's taking a very long time, however, due to how the elders of the Hyuga clan, one of which being my own father, being adamant about not changing how the Hyuga does business with the Inuzuka. Moves like the one I want to make cannot be done unless a majority of the Hyuga elders vote for it." Sighing in a regretful tone, Hiashi continued, "My father is one of the many Hyuga elders who does NOT agree with me."

"You did mention how callous grandfather can be," Neji pointed out.

Nodding in agreement with his nephew, Hiashi continued, "Your grandfather and I have…not been seeing eye to eye on a number of things in recent events. In fact, the only thing that he and I have agreed upon since before the Inuzuka clan's recent troubles have started is offering Hinata in marriage to Naruto."

"Really?" Neji asked, arching an eyebrow in piqued interest.

Nodding once in the affirmative, Hiashi said, "He was the elder that was leading the group of elders who proposed the idea to me."

Sighing, Neji remarked, "Grandfather and the other elders probably think that Naruto would be an invaluable asset to the Hyuga clan, given the reputation that he's been making for himself, along with the fact that it was Naruto who defeated Kiba in the Chunnin Tournament."

Nodding in agreement, Hiashi replied, "Your grandfather does have the Hyuga clan's well-being first and foremost in mind. He's led the charge on some rather hard line decisions that have help to contribute to his reputation of being callous." Sighing, Hiashi continued, "If he and the other clan elders who are of a like mind weren't so hardline, then many of the troubles between our clan and the Inuzuka would not even exist. Tsume's son may not have even attempted to kill my sweet little sunshine." (8)

"We have to deal with the cards that we are dealt, Lord Hiashi," Neji remarked. With a slight smirk, Neji remarked, "Naruto's pretty good at dealing with the cards he was dealt, you know."

Smiling, Hiashi said, "You got me there, Neji. Come, our business is done here." Nodding in obedience, Neji followed his uncle out of the station.

* * *

(TWO DAYS LATER)

Hanabi Hyuga was walking through the Hyuga clan estate. In recent events, the Hyuga genin had recently befriended Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi. Although the bonus of Konohamaru and Moegi was nice, Hanabi had truthfully only been wanting to be with Udon, as she had a crush on him and wanted to make him her boyfriend.

Hanabi hadn't quite yet reached the point where she felt comfortable trying to bring up the subject of her feelings for Udon again; sure, Udon and the others knew as they had found out the day they were introduced to her, but none of them had made mention of it since (although Udon had been considerate of her since introduction day). Hanabi had tried to bring it up on at least a few occasions, but she wimped out before she could even get a word out. Hanabi had come close one time a few weeks back, but the Hyuga genin had to cut things short when she heard that Neji tried attacking Hinata.

The series of pranks that Neji was on the receiving end of over the ten days after his attempt to attack Hinata were Hanabi's way of getting back at that jerk for daring to hurt her Onee-sama. Hanabi had to call Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi in for help, though, as pranks aren't the Hyuga genin's forte. (9)

But back to the subject at hand; Hanabi's inability to try and bring up the subject of her feelings for Udon. Hanabi was walking through the Hyuga clan estate in an effort to find Hinata. The Hyuga genin knew full well that her Onee-sama had consistently dealt with confessing feelings to a boy that she like for the longest time, so with that in mind, Hanabi figured that Hinata was an expert in this field, and would be able to give her some helpful advice.

Reaching the den, Hanabi found Hinata sitting on the love seat, watching a movie. From the sounds of it, it was that older fantasy movie about that barbarian guy and a group of adventurers going on a quest to rescue some girl. To Hanabi's surprise, Naruto was sitting next to Hinata on the love seat, watching the movie with her. Hanabi knew that she'd be seeing Naruto quite a lot, as her dad said that Naruto will be doing something for the Hyuga clan (he didn't go into much detail, though), but what Naruto was doing caught the Hyuga genin's attention.

His right arm was over Hinata's shoulders. Also, Hinata was smiling and blushing at the same time.

"Are you two dating?" Hanabi asked, getting Naruto's and Hinata's attention.

"Oh, Hanabi!" Hinata remarked as she saw her little sister, the blushing on her face becoming somewhat more prolific, "Umm, yes, that would be accurate to say. Why do you-"

"His arm is over your shoulder," Hanabi pointed out, "Also, the look you had on your face before I got your attention clearly showed that you were enjoying every bit of it." Looking down at the floor with a mildly downcast expression, Hanabi remarked, "All of that is actually part of the reason why I was hoping to find you."

"What do you mean?" Hinata asked in a kind tone as she used the DVD player remote to pause her movie.

"Umm, it's about Udon," Hanabi began as she continued to look down at the ground, although now she's poking the ends of her index fingers together.

"Go on," Hinata replied.

"You see," Hanabi continued, "I've been trying to work up the courage to bring up my feelings for him again. Sure, Udon and the others know how I feel since I started hanging out with them a couple of weeks ago, but they've just left the subject be. I really do like him, and I've been wanting to tell him how I feel again. I'd like to eventually be able to, umm…" Pausing for a bit, Hanabi pointed to Hinata and Naruto. "…Do this with Udon. Sit with him, probably with his arm over my shoulders like that. You know, just be together with him." Lowering her arm, Hanabi said as her eyes started to water up a bit, "But I just can't bring myself to ask."

"I can understand how you feel," Hinata replied to her younger sister in a gentle tone, "I myself had trouble making my feelings known to the guy that I love." Reaching over with her left hand, Hinata gently laid her fingers on Naruto's right hand. "In fact, I'm still not quite sure how I had managed to get him to notice me."

"I finally realized everything," Naruto remarked when he turned to face Hinata, "Although that confession of yours during Pain's attack on Konoha a few years back did help a lot."

"So…Udon and I have to be in a life or death situation for me to finally have the courage to tell him about my feelings for him?" Hanabi asked.

"Oh no, Hanabi," Hinata said with a slight laugh, "There's no need to go that far."

"Then what do I do?" Hanabi asked.

"Try starting with simple gestures," Hinata replied, "You know, words of kindness, being helpful, that sort of thing. Maybe even a few small gifts."

"I tried getting Udon one of those special mini cakes from the sweets shop," Hanabi remarked, "You know, the ones that come in the little plastic containers. But Moegi ate it before I could bring it to Udon."

"Yeah, I'll talk to Moegi about that," Naruto remarked, face-palming with his left hand.

"Hmm…" Hinata said, a look of consideration on her face. After a few seconds, the Hyuga chunnin said, "Aha, I got it!" To her sister, Hinata continued, "Why don't Naruto and I try to set it up so that you and Udon can spend some time together?" Turning to face Naruto, Hinata asked, "What do you think, Naruto-kun?"

"Sounds kind of cute," Naruto remarked, "So I don't see why not."

"Then it's settled," Hinata said, "Tomorrow when Naruto and I meet up for lunch, I'll bring you and he'll bring Udon. It'll be perfect!"

"I certainly hope so," Hanabi replied in a mildly nervous tone.

Smiling gently, Hinata said, "Hanabi, dear, trust me. Tomorrow will be perfect."

* * *

(THE NEXT DAY)

It was around mid-to-late afternoon when Hiashi's father, one of the Hyuga clan elders, found himself alone in an alleyway, facing off against two opponents that he would rather not have to face at all.

The first opponent was a large Ninkin; somewhere between Akamaru and Kuromaru in terms of size, this Ninkin had a darkish orange fur, pointed ears, a tail about as long as Kuromaru's, and the same kind of closed-eyed face as Akamaru. This Ninkin was currently scowling at the Hyuga clan elder, its lips pulling back into a snarl.

The second opponent was Pirate Inuzuka, who was the partner/owner of the large Ninkin. "Well, well, well," the Inuzuka kunoichi said in a taunting tone, "Who do Bakamaru (10) and I run into as I'm taking him for a walk but one of the head honchos of the Hyuga clan!" With a smirk, Pirate added, "How did you enjoy my nephew's performance during the Chunnin Tournament?"

"That savage monster is your nephew?!" Hiashi's father snapped angrily, "Do you know what he tried to do to my granddaughter?!"

Bakamaru barked angrily at Hiashi's father in a snapping tone, warning him against insulting anyone belonging to the Inuzuka clan. "Yeah, you tell him, Bakamaru," Pirate laughed, "No one gets to put down anyone belonging to house Inuzuka!" As Bakamaru started issuing a deep-throated growl at Hiashi's father, Pirate cracked her neck a bit. "I know full well what Kiba tried to do," Pirate remarked coolly to Hiashi's father.

"Then why haven't you looked into having that boy punished?" Hiashi's father demanded.

"Punished?" Pirate repeated in a mock-confused tone, "Why would I look into having Kiba punished?" Assuming a more serious tone, Pirate continued, "After all, Kiba was only doing one of his chores."

"Chores?" Hiashi father repeated, his tone a mix of anger and confusion.

Glaring at the Hyuga elder, Pirate said, "My nephew was only _taking out the trash_."

His temper flared by the Inuzuka kunoichi's taunts, Hiashi's father dashed forward to strike, his Byakugan active. He thrusted his right palm forward, intending to strike at Pirate. The Inuzuka kunoichi was easily able to dodge the attack by leaping to her left; as Pirate made her dodge, Bakamaru leapt forward, snarling angrily at the Hyuga elder and making him jump back to avoid being bitten.

Hiashi's father realized that he was at something of a disadvantage in this fight. The Hyuga elder was getting close to reaching his mid-seventies, with age and a lack of any consistent physical conditioning since he retired inhibiting his fighting abilities. Pirate, on the other hand, had barely scratched her forties and was clearly keeping herself in great condition. Additionally, whereas Hiashi's father was on his own, Pirate had her large Ninkin backing her up.

"Don't even try to use the excuse of 'oh she started it'," Pirate sneered as she ran forward with a kunai in her hand, "You attacked us first!"

"I won't stand for anyone who would even dare to taunt my clan, my family!" Hiashi's father exclaimed as he made another palm thrust at Pirate. His second attack missing, the Hyuga elder said to Pirate as he jumped back to avoid getting bitten by Bakamaru, "To hell with your taunting, and to hell with you! Someone needs to put a leash on you and your bastard kinfolk, to reign you all in and keep you in check!"

Her brow furrowing in anger, Pirate snarled, "NO ONE puts a leash on an Inuzuka. Not now, not ever." Crouching down, Pirate said, "Human-beast mimicry!" Bakamaru ran up and jumped onto Pirate's back; not one second later, the large Ninkin had transformed (with the customary white smoke poof) into a double of his owner. (11)

"A good thing you have that old man smell," Pirate taunted, "Because that'll make things easy for Bakamaru and I!" With both her and her Ninkin partner spinning forward, Pirate shouted, "Fang Over Fang!"

…

Kiba Inuzuka, with his Ninkin partner Akamaru at his side, was hopping from rooftop to rooftop; after having just spent some time hanging out with the guys (although Naruto was missing, for some strange reason), Kiba and Akamaru were making their way back home to the Inuzuka clan compound. "I think Choji and Shikamaru have a point about that Karui girl," Kiba remarked to Akamaru, getting the loyal Ninkin to regard him, "She ain't a bad person at all. Her species doth protest too much is all."

"Woof!" Akamaru barked in a tone of agreement; the large Ninkin didn't quite understand what Kiba was talking about, but Akamaru's agreeing with it anyway because if Kiba says it, then it must be true. When Kiba and Akamaru were about halfway between where they were hanging out with the guys and home, Kiba heard the sounds of battle taking place in an alleyway somewhere off to his left. Specifically, the Inuzuka chunnin had heard someone using the Fang Over Fang technique; that meant that one of Kiba's fellow Inuzuka clan members was locked in battle against someone.

"You hear that, dude?" Kiba said to Akamaru, drawing an affirmative woof from the large Ninkin. "Yeah," Kiba remarked as he faced the direction the sounds of battle were coming from, "Someone in our clan is caught up in a fight." Changing course to head in the direction of the fight, Kiba said, "Let's go back them up, Akamaru! We'll teach whoever is messing with one of our own that if you attack one Inuzuka, you attack the whole pack!" Akamaru let out a bark of affirmative obedience as he followed his owner towards battle.

…

Hiashi's father was not in good shape at the moment. There was a kunai cut on his right side; although it wasn't outright nasty or fatal on its own, the wound was bleeding enough to warrant some medical attention. Additionally, his left shin had received a slight fracture, and he believed that he had at least two broken ribs. And that's not counting the mild bite wounds that Hiashi's father had received from Bakamaru. As he held his left hand over his kunai wound in an attempt to stem the bleeding, Hiashi's father regarded his opponents.

Pirate was holding her right hand over the left side of her body to stem some bleeding of her own; at some point in the fight, Pirate threw a kunai at the Hyuga elder, with the latter barely able to dodge it. Acting quickly, Hiashi's father managed to pick up the kunai, allowing him to arm himself for this fight (he had entered the fight without any weapons to speak of). With the aforementioned concerns of age and lack of consistent physical condition, Hiashi's father was barely able to inflict a cut on Pirate's left side.

Other than that, the Hyuga elder hadn't been able to hit Pirate at all. Bakamaru hadn't even taken any hits yet, as the Hyuga elder was more keen on ending Pirate first.

"You are *huff* one tough old bastard *huff* to put down," Pirate panted in exhaustion and mild pain. A cocky grin forming on her face, Pirate added, "At least you're making things interesting here! The folks of my clan hate boring fights!"

"Y-you're enjoying this," Hiashi father managed to cough out, wincing in pain, "Aren't you, you *huff* monstrous harlot?"

"Takes a monster to know a monster, huh?!" Pirate replied, giving the Hyuga elder a rather rude gesture with her free hand. Bakamaru, who had transformed back to normal at this point, took a step forward as he gave off a deep-throated growl at Hiashi's father. The Hyuga elder knew that he was in serious trouble here, and that he had to get away.

This encounter with the Inuzuka kunoichi was further proof that he and his fellow Hyuga clan elders were in the right for keeping the leash that their ancestors had put on the Inuzuka clan. A leash that Hiashi's father knew that he and his fellow Hyuga clan elders were going to be pulling on all the more tightly. Assuming, of course, that the Hyuga elder would be able to get out of this encounter against this Inuzuka kunoichi and her large Ninkin alive. And assuming that he would be able to tell what happened as he recovered from this ordeal.

Hiashi's father knew full well that if he were to get out of this alive, both of his granddaughters would be keen on wanting to care for him while he recovers. They're both real sweethearts, those granddaughters of his.

Suddenly, the Hyuga elder, Pirate and Bakamaru all heard a young adult male voice call out, "Oi, Aunt Pirate! Bakamaru! What's going on here?!" Looking in the direction the calling out came from, all three combatants in the fight saw Kiba and Akamaru standing on the rooftop of one of the building surrounding the alleyway. Seeing her nephew with his Ninkin having just shown up, Pirate had a sudden idea.

"Kiba! Sweetie!" Pirate called out in a mock-panicked tone (neither Kiba nor Akamaru noticed that it was faked). Pointing to Hiashi's father with her free hand, Pirate continued in her mock-panicked tone, "This here jerk-waffle attacked me for no good reason whatsoever! The bastard even managed to take one of my kunai and used it to cut me!"

"He's doing WHAT?!" Kiba exclaimed angrily, his brow furrowing in anger.

"This woman is a liar!" Hiashi's father exclaimed at Kiba as loudly as he could while pointing at Pirate, "She had-"

"HUMAN-BEAST MIMICRY!" Kiba snarled in rage, crouching down to let Akamaru jump onto his back and sub-sequentially transform into a double of Kiba. It was then that the Hyuga elder realized his mistake; he had just said something rather unflattering about Kiba's aunt, right to Kiba's face. With both Kiba and the transformed Akamaru spinning at Hiashi's father, the Inuzuka chunnin shouted, "FANG OVER FANG!"

* * *

It was around six in the afternoon when Naruto, Hinata, Udon and Hanabi were walking from where they were grabbing a bite to eat back to the Hyuga clan estate. "So yeah," Udon said to Hanabi, "I'm really sorry, Hanabi. I was wanting to bring up what you said the day that Konohamaru, Moegi and I met you, but Moegi kept telling me to shut up about it. I think she's still in denial that any girl at all would actually like me. (12) Anywho, I was about to bring up what you said a few weeks back after Moegi left to go home for the day, but then you left when you were informed that your older cousin tried attacking your older sister."

"Yeah, Neji-niisan is still on my brown list for that stunt he pulled," Hanabi remarked.

"So Udon, Hanabi," Naruto began, "Now that the two of you have had a chance to spend some time together, what do you both think? Do you both think that things can work between you?"

"Well I don't see any reason why things shouldn't work between us," Udon replied, "Although me and Hanabi dating might catch Konohamaru and Moegi by surprise. Moegi's head may even literally explode from sheer shock at the fact that out of her, Konohamaru and I, that I was the first to get a date."

"Moegi's head will not literally explode, Udon," Naruto remarked with a slight chuckle. As the blonde jonin and his companions turned the corner, they were surprised to see some medic shinobi milling about the place. An Inuzuka kunoichi was laying on a stretcher, a large Ninkin with dark orange fur sitting at her side. Sitting on a bench a few feet away from the Inuzuka kunoichi on the stretcher was Kiba. Akamaru was sitting on the ground next to Kiba. The Inuzuka chunnin's right hand was also stained heavily with blood. None of it was _his_ blood, though.

To the alarm of Naruto and the others, a body was laying on another stretcher, a sheet completely covering it.

Off to Kiba's left was his mother Tsume, with her talking Ninkin Kuromaru at her side. Tsume was talking to one of the medic shinobi. "Are you frigg'en kidding me?!" Tsume snapped at the medic shinobi she was talking to, "You mean to tell me that my son is going to be punished?!"

"With all due respect, ma'am," the medic shinobi replied in a nervous tone, "Your son did kill a rather important individual."

"That quote unquote 'rather important individual' attacked Pirate, who is my sister," Tsume pointed out, "Which makes her Kiba's aunt. You seriously expect that Kiba would just stand by and let some 'rather important individual' attack his aunt?!"

"Well the only witness to the events are your sister, your son and their respective ninja dogs," the medic shinobi remarked in his same nervous tone, "Relations between your clan and the victim's clan are somewhat well-known here in Konoha. Those who are in the know will be drawing some rather unflattering assumptions about-"

"Okay, let me cut you off right there," Kuromaru interrupted in a clearly annoyed tone, "Because if you're going to say something along the lines of what I think you're going to say, then it's best if you shut the hell up right now. Otherwise, Tsume here will try to score a critical hit on you." Giving the medic shinobi a knowing look, the talking Ninkin continued, "My owner is already riled up emotionally due to what's going on here with Pirate and Kiba. I don't need Tsume getting herself arrested just because some medic shinobi pissed her off to the point where she struck him between his legs."

Pointing to her Ninkin, Tsume remarked in a casual tone, "He's got a point. If push comes to shove, then I will not be opposed to the idea of scoring a critical hit on your hidden treasure."

Sighing in a resigned tone, the medic shinobi said, "I'm just trying to warn you all of what to expect here. An officer shinobi will be coming by to see you and your family, so just be ready."

Over where he stood with Udon and the Hyuga sisters, Naruto said, "You guys wait here. I'm going to go ask what the hell's going on."

With Hinata keeping an eye on the genin, Naruto ran over to the scene, meeting up with Tsume and Kuromaru. "Oh, Naruto," Tsume greeted in a friendly tone, "Yeah, thanks for beating some sense into Kiba a while back. Made snapping him back to normal loads easier for me." Her slight smile fading somewhat, Tsume continued, "That being said, I've probably got a major load of talking to Kiba that I have to do, given what happened."

"What happened, exactly?" Naruto asked, a concerned look on his face.

Sighing, Tsume said, "Someone dude from the Hyuga clan tried attacking my sister Pirate. Pirate and her Ninkin Bakamaru fought back, but Pirate got a kunai wound on her left side. At some point, Kiba and Akamaru came up to where the fight was happening." With a mildly unsure look on her face, Tsume continued, "Pirate told Kiba what was happening, and…well…"

"Kiba killed the Hyuga in question," Kuromaru said to Naruto, "He had full reason to believe that Pirate and/or Bakamaru would have gotten killed otherwise."

Brushing the long golden spikes over his Konoha headband away, Naruto said, "You have got to be kidding me."

"What's worse is that the Hyuga that Kiba killed was one of the clan's elders," Tsume pointed out, "The Hyuga clan's elders are pretty much off limits as far as everyone in Konoha is concerned. They're more or less untouchable, so even scratching them is a big no-no. The remaining elders will undoubtedly insist on some sort of severe punishment for Kiba, despite the fact that he was trying to save his aunt."

As Naruto talked to Tsume and Kuromaru, Shibi Aburame came walking up to the scene. "Are you three the only other jonin that are here on the scene?" asked the Aburame patriarch, drawing a thumbs-up from Tsume for remembering to include Kuromaru (as he is Tsume's Ninkin partner, Kuromaru has whatever shinobi rank that Tsume has).

"Yeah Shibi," Tsume replied as she arched an eyebrow while lowering her hand, "Why do you ask?"

"We're going to be needed in identifying the deceased," Shibi said as he gestured for his fellow jonin to follow him, "I hope none of you have weak stomachs." The Aburame jonin had lead Tsume, Kuromaru and Naruto over to where the covered body was laid. Bending down, Shibi grabbed the top edge of the sheet then pulled it back. Shibi knew that it was going to be a Hyuga, but it was one he did not recognize. Tsume, Kuromaru and Naruto, however, all recognized who it was, Naruto especially.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me," Naruto remarked in a defeated tone.

* * *

That evening, Kurenai Yuri had gathered her three students at her place, knowing full well that there had to be a discussion. Anticipating some shouting during the discussion, Kurenai had asked Sophia Fisher to babysit Mirai for her. The illusionist jonin did not want her young child exposed to emotional shouting. "HOW COULD YOU, KIBA-KUN?!" Hinata screamed at her Inuzuka teammate as tears ran down the sides of her face, "HOW COULD YOU KILL MY GRANDFATHER?!"

"WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE ME DO, HUH?!" Kiba shouted back angrily at the Hyuga chunnin, "JUST STAND BY AS SOMEONE ATTACKED MY AUNT AND HER DOG?! SHE COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED, DAMNIT!"

"Could we try to lower the volume here?" Shino asked politely, getting the attention of his teammates.

"Yes, Shino has a point," Kurenai remarked, "Besides which, both sides have valid reasons for being upset. Kiba's right to be upset because his aunt was attacked, not to mention the fact that Kiba had rushed in to defend one of his family members." Turning to face Kiba, Kurenai added, "Kiba, you acted to defend a close relative of yours when you had reason to believe that she would have been killed otherwise. No one can fault you for that. Regardless of all of that, however, you _did_ kill Hinata's grandfather. You could at least apologize to Hinata for-"

"Apologize?!" Kiba nearly exclaimed at his jonin instructor in an incredulous tone as he cut her off, "You want me to apologize for defending the life of one of my loved ones?!"

"Because you took the life of one of Hinata's loved ones to do so, yes," Kurenai replied, a sympathetic look on her face.

"Yeah, screw that noise," Kiba spat bitterly as he and Akamaru made their way to Kurenai's door, "I am not apologizing for protecting my family!"

"Kiba," Kurenai began in a warning tone as she walked quickly to catch up to her student. Kurenai put a hand on Kiba's right shoulder, making the Inuzuka chunnin turn to face his sensei; Kurenai was startled when she saw the look of venomous rage on Kiba's face, stopping short of finishing her warning.

"Do you know how many of my clan's members have died so far this year, Kurenai-sensei?!" Kiba snapped, his eyes wide and wild with anger, "Do you know how many times within the last few _months_ I've heard my clansmen, human and canine alike, mourn someone dying?! I was able to _prevent_ that from happening today, Kurenai-sensei! I was able to prevent my clan from suffering two deaths today! And yet I'm expected to _apologize_ for it?!"

Turning back around, Kiba said, "No. I won't be giving anyone any apology just because they don't like the fact that I kept my aunt and her dog from getting killed." After Akamaru walked out before him, Kiba walked out the door himself, slamming it as hard as possible to emphasize his point.

Sighing in a mildly frustrated tone, Shino said, "Damn it, Kiba."

At that point, Naruto came walking out of one of the hallways, having just come out from using the bathroom; it was Naruto, one of the jonin at the scene earlier, who had to inform Hinata (and by extention Hanabi) that her (their) grandfather had been killed. Naruto accompanied his fiancé to Kurenai's place, intending to act as Hinata's support in case she needed a shoulder to lean/cry on.

Seeing Hinata look down at the floor as her tears flowed freely, Naruto sighed in a resigned tone and said, "I'm guessing Kiba didn't apologize."

"I'm afraid that's the case, Naruto," Kurenai replied. Shaking her head in disappointment, Kurenai continued with a defeated expression, "Given what's been going on in Kiba's clan as of late, along with the reasons why what's going on in Kiba's clan is even happening, it shouldn't really come as a surprise that Kiba refused to apologize."

"I'm going to go and try to talk some sense into Kiba," Shino said, running out the door before anyone could even stop him.

After Shino was gone, Naruto and Kurenai both looked to regard Hinata, who was still looking down at the floor and crying. Naruto approached Hinata, placing his hands on her shoulders. Turing Hinata around so that she was facing him, Naruto gently wrapped his arms around her, allowing her to cry into his chest; sure, cleaning the tear and mucus stains out of his flask jacket later would be a bit disgusting, but in all honesty, Naruto couldn't care less. Hinata needed him right now, and if she had to use his entire flask jacket as a tissue, then so be it.

* * *

(A FEW MONTHS LATER)

It was raining one afternoon in the village of Konohagakure, and Lady Tsunade was running through the streets, having been told that a young adult male had just been found having collapsed a few feet into Konoha from the front entry gate. "Ah hell!" Tsunade exclaimed as she raised her right forearm to try and block the rain from hitting her face, "Why did I forget to bring an umbrella? This rain is-"

The lady fifth stopped midsentence when she saw, to her shock, that Sasuke Uchiha was being loaded onto a stretcher for transport to Konoha General. (13)

THE END

Author's notes:

(1) Well Shikamaru and his friends ARE technically part of Konoha's military. Regular citizens assaulting military personnel is a big no-no.

(2) That's what Shikamaru believes.

(3) Think Might Gai and Rock Lee.

(4) This would be _really_ awkward down the line if it happened.

(5) Not only is Sakura serious, but she's capable of doing it, too.

(6) If he does score a critical hit on Sai, Inoichi will cause more pain and damage than when Hanabi scored a critical hit on Kiba.

(7) He's still plenty dumb, though.

(8) According to the wiki, Hinata's name means 'place in the sun'. Also, I figured that it was about high time that Hiashi had an affectionate nickname for Hinata, like how Harold and Inoichi respectively have ones for Sakura and Ino.

(9) Surprisingly, it's Moegi who is the trio's mastermind when it comes to pulling pranks.

(10) Another reference to the lore I made for the Inuzuka clan.

(11) …This is actually a rather good question, if you think about it. What if an Inuzuka shinobi and their Ninkin aren't the same gender as each other? Does the Ninkin transform into what their owner would look like as the opposite gender, or do they just assume their owner's appearance as is? I'm assuming it's the latter, but I'd like to actually find this out for real.

(12) Moegi legitimately believed that Udon would never score a girl (Moegi herself doesn't like Udon that way).

(13) The circle is now complete.

With this, 'Before the redemption' has finished. I wonder if anyone would get a kick out of how the end of this chapter sort-of bleeds into 'Guess who's back?'. Anywho, I hope that this story provides at least some people with some entertainment. That's what most writers hope that their work will accomplish, if you think about it.


End file.
